When They Cry 0 The Legend of Inanna
by WriterZed
Summary: The first step to the world of Inanna. A story largely influenced by Umineko no Naku Koro ni. Welcome to the white world, welcome to Nagisa City, welcome to the story of Santo and his friends, and welcome to the first chapter of the end.
1. The Sleep Starts

White…

A sea of white…

Is it snow? No, it's nothing as beautiful as that.

But it's cold...it is really cold. There's no warmth to be found anywhere in this world.

In this world of complete silence with nothing but whiteness lies a single girl in the field of ice...

The girl looks up towards the sky, there's nothing there either. The blue sky looks like it is mocking her, mocking her for ending up in this state.

She wanted to scream out and she wanted to curse whoever is looking down at her above that sky.

…She wanted to get out of this world, this world where no one is around anymore.

No living being, no light, no color, no nothing.

With all her strength that the frail arms of hers can gather, she began to crawl…and managed to drag her body for a short distance only to freeze back again. It's only a short distance but the world won't allow even that, the world won't even allow her to move.

Unable to take her weakness, tears fell from her eyes. She began to sob uncontrollably.

Her cries can be heard from a distance but there is no one there to hear it.

The world had ended and there are no sounds left except for her cries and when her cries came to a stop, the sound of life in the world is once again erased.

The world is buried with this white coffin created by her.

All the trees have died, all the flowers withered and all the seas frozen. There is no beauty in this miserable scenery.

Yet, it was the scenery the girl once wished for.

Once again, she faced up towards the sky, this time with no desire to curse or to escape. All she could do, all she could do with those tiny hands of hers was to pray.

She prays that she can die…and when she dies, she wanted to paint this white world with her blood so that color can return to the world again.

…Her silent prayer was not heard for there is no god in this world.

..because God was killed by her.

Frozen in time and knowing whatever she does she can never escape from this lonely world and her harsh fate.

She shed the final tear as she realized….

"Whatever she does…the princess in the story will never be saved."

* * *

"The train to Nagisa station will be arriving in 5 minutes time..."

With an expression as if debating whether he should or should not do it….

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwn"

Yep, he was glad that he did what he was supposed to do, yawning. He never missed it, he did it on time, and he always did it no matter what. He always had to yawn on time because it marks the start of…

Another exhausting day! How much does he hates early mornings.

Although maybe that yawn might had been a little bit over the top, seeing as how almost everyone in the train station is currently looking at him. He can't help but laugh at the people in his own town, at how something so small could easily get their attention. But enough with that, he didn't come here early in the morning, in a train station bustling with office men rushing to work to make sure that they are on time so that their boss won't deduct their pay check and increase their balding spot, on a Friday morning. No, he came here because he had a promise to keep. Despite his appearance, he actually makes it a point to always keep his promise... at least, he tries.

"The train to Nagisa station will be arriving in 4 minutes time…" the train announcer repeated, leading to more pushing and bustling from the crowd who are afraid that they might be late.

Okay, that's it, he got fed up of waiting and being pushed by the crowd and it's time to go home to watch his favourite mahou shoujo- When a loud slap on his back followed by a scream to his ear jumped him.

"**Santo Amaya!**"

Oh that sounds familiar, no wait! That's not how his first reaction should be; he turned around ready to send his barrage of comments to whoever the hell slapped him on his back.

"Age 18. Weight: 73kg Height: 177cm Favourite things: Anime/manga/robots/ and other boring stuff…so whatever! Dislikes: Lemons and losing!"

That's got to be the worst bibliography he has ever heard-

"Appearance wise, he looks like a sloggy old man. Okay, maybe not really..."

Now it's not even a bibliography anymore, Santo wanted to stop this-

"He has medium straight black hair that goes down to his collar, eyes like a dead fish, a small nose, and always carrying a stupid cynical face! So appearance wise, he's not that different from boring guys you can find anywhere!"

"**Amity Ina!"**

Santo shouted out, hopefully to cover that blabbering mouth of hers before she spills out his darkest secrets. He stared at the pink hair girl standing in front of him. She's dressed in a miniskirt and a cap-sleeve textured top, with a short pink scarf that compliments her dark pink hair. Amity looks a lot different from what he remembered; putting aside the pervy proportions that he wanted to stare at, her emerald colored eyes were a lot bigger than he remembered and her face had grown up to be rather cute. Santo also noticed that Amity has on her head a white beret with a logo that he finds rather familiar…but this is no time to be remembering because he barely dodged another slap that Amity served him.

"Hey stop that! You stupid pink gorilla!"

"Santo!" Instead of a slap that Santo was expecting, Amity dived into him and push him towards a pillar while hugging him. While he was glad that he wasn't getting another round of slaps, he was, truth to be told, shocked and now slightly embarrassed.

"W-What is the pink gorilla doing.. hugging me?" Santo mumbled while trying to hide his blush.

Amity pushed away from him while looking at him seriously. For a moment there, Santo thought that her eyes were glowing.

"I'm sorry but it's just been sooooo long since I last saw you!~ I've missed you, what the heck were you doing, avoiding all of our calls!"

She ended sounding really angry.

Ah that's right, Santo almost forgot about that. But how could he? The reason why he agreed to come today was also because of that.

"Ah..I'm sorry that I didn't call you back. You see, a lot of things happened and I had some difficultly on my own" Santo chose his words carefully because he really didn't want to reveal anything more. He checks Amity's face to see if it worked.

Well, it did and he knew because this time her slap landed on his face.

"What the-

"But I guess I'll forgive you since you came today!" Amity said, obviously beaming with happiness, Santo guessed that it must be because she gets to do free slaps.

"Now now, Amity-chan, you shouldn't do that to Santo who we haven't seen for years. It's not really well-mannered, is it now?"

Appearing out of nowhere with a gentle tone was a young man in thick rectangle glasses, dressed in an orange blazer that covers his white collar shirt and in jet black jeans. Santo didn't take long to recognize him, because of his curly pale orange hair, as **Forte Ina**, or in his case, his Big Bro Forte.

"The train to Nagisa station will be arriving in 3 minutes time"

"Big Bro!" Santo shouted out without hesitating. More people turned to him from the crowd this time. But he got used to people at the station staring at him in the past 2 minutes he was here probably because of his yawns and also because a pretty cute girl was hugging him..and slapping him.

Forte seems rather embarrassed by his shout but decided to move towards them with his hand waving.

"Now now, you two are causing quite a scene here."

"But I haven't seen this idiot for such a long time!"

Another slap from Amity to Santo, this time directly to the head.

"H-Hey! I'm sorry big bro, it's this pink gorilla jumping around." Santo tried to resist more slaps.

"What did you call me?"

"Pink Gorilla!"

"Ah! That's enough from you!" Amity jumped.

More slaps and all at the back, those hurts a lot more.

"Ouch!" Santo winced in pain.

"Alright, that's enough. We finally get to see Santo after all this years, Amity. I don't think slapping him will leave him with a good memory of you."

Forte said in an understanding tone while patting Amity on her head. Amity pouted while staring viciously at Santo.

"And Santo, that's enough of name calling."

"Well, I guess for the sake of Big Bro." Santo nodded and said as he remembered that Forte is always the most mature out of the three of them, and always the one that resolves any conflicts.

"As expected from Big Bro, always so mature." He complimented, and he knows that he rarely gives compliments.

"Of course, Forte is so much better than some idiot" Amity jeered, leading to an enraged Santo.

Only for the entire calling of names and slapping process to repeat itself all over again.

Forte looked at the two of them with a smile, thinking that some things never change.

"Well then…" Forte pulled Santo away from one of Amity's slap as he said "Shall we get moving? I figure it would be better if we make it there on time."

"Ah…You're right!" Amity exclaimed

"The train to Nagisa station will be arriving in 2 minutes time"

"Sigh, thanks to a certain _someone_ we are going to miss the train if we don't hurry." Santo groaned as Amity puffed her cheeks and argued "I get it! I get it! We can still make it if we rush, so let's gooooo!"

…as Amity grabbed Santo on the collar and pull him off with the strength of a gorilla.

"Hold on you two!" shouted Forte as he gave chase.

At that moment all three of them are pretty sure that they are going to be late if they miss this train and they do not want to be late, not on an important day like this.

* * *

**Bishop Ina **closed the thick book and heaved out a sigh of relief. He was sure he knew the exact phrases, the exact words and the exact pronunciation for everyone of them but he still had to be certain. After all, he doesn't want to mess up in front of the young ones and today was a day he looked forward to.

He closed his eyes and tried to recall…page 25…the particular paragraph he wants to memorize the most …

"There is magic in life and miracles are everywhere to be found in nature.

The cool wind is the breath of the skies.

The rain is the tears from the happiness of the skies.

The warmth is made up of the thousand smiles from the skies…

And even though everything in this world might be erased one day…may the skies be with us, may Innana the lady...be with us."

"Clap…Clap…"

The applause came from the entrance of the gate and standing there is a woman in her early fourties with short brown hair dressed in a magnificent black dress.

"Ah Karen!"

**Karen Ina **reached earlier to help her husband in whatever she can in his duties as the priest. Karen always wanted to be someone like her husband, someone who can guide others. That is why to her, his husband is a form of perfection.

"That was amazing, dear. I'm certain that your speech will go well today." She said as she approached her husband who is standing at the altar below the stone statue of Inanna.

"Indeed..Indeed, I hope it does! May Inanna bless me and may she bless all the followers who are coming today." Bishop gave a little a prayer as he said that.

He look towards the stained glass windows with the light shining in, illuminating the cathedral in a golden, blissful color. Bishop thought about everything that has the church and him to what he is today

"I will appreciate and continue to appreciate, as I always have, the gifts of this world"

"Mymy, what is with you today dear? Not only are you in high spirits but you seem to be..hmm.."

Karen Ina came to a pause, she is not quite sure what to make of his husband emotional behaviour.

"Hoho! I'm just really happy, that's all. How many years have it been? Since we last saw Santo-kun? To think such a day would come where he returns to us..."

Bishop said as he left the altar and headed towards where her wife is standing.

"But dear, Santo-kun has never left us, he has always been here…" Karen said as she points towards her chest… "with us, right?"

"Hoho… yes…yes. I've always believed that this day would come. Now I must work hard today as well. As a fine adult, I will continue to lead the future generations of Inanna."

Karen Ina looks at the cute bubbly face of her husband as she giggled, "Yes, and your wife will always be beside you."

Together, the two exited the cathedral to prepare for the festival.

* * *

As the train makes its way towards Nagisa City…

Santo is taking in the sights that he thought he would never see again. The road towards Nagisa City…he thought that he would never make his way there ever again.

The same farmlands that covers up the majority of the road…

The short but broad mountains…and the long stretches of river that would reflect the sunlight…

It is really a beautiful sight to take in and it calms the mind of anyone that would look at it.

He wonders that even if he did not want to go to Nagisa City, maybe he should have just take the train there just for the sake of this sight. Then again, he might be too lazy even for that. He lives on the other side of the country after all so there's no reason for him to be near this part of the country.

Why…he wondered…why did he even go there back then? Whatever the reason was, he can't seem to clearly remember now.

"Hey Forte, do you think mum and dad are done with the preparations?" Amity's voice knocked Santo out of his thoughts.

"Well, considering the kind of people uncle bishop and aunt Karen is, I'm pretty sure the preparations are already done. They are, after all, very effective people." Forte replied without much thought.

Santo remembered that all this time Forte had always respected Amity's parents not only because they are both successful adults with listed companies under them but also because they took him in when he was younger…when no one else wanted him. Santo cannot imagine the pain that his Big Bro Forte had to go through. However, he didn't want him to read his face so he said something else to keep the cherry atmosphere between the three of them going …

"Ah, uncle bishop and aunt Karen are going to kill me so badly when they see me after all this time…"

"Hmph! You got that right!" Amity said as she puffed her cheeks again.

"I cannot disagree, you cannot imagine how worried they were for you, Santo." Forte said with a straight face.

Okay, that was wrong of me… Santo thought.

"But but! When they heard that you are going to come today…!" Amity glee up and exclaimed…

"My dad was like a small kid all over again!"

"Wait, Uncle Bishop behaving like a small kid? Pfft…imagine that." Santo can't help but blurted out.

The group couldn't control their laughter when they imagined what it would be like for their mature, religious and serious uncle to jump around like a young child.

"Hahaha, but really Santo. They are glad to have you back and so are we." Forte said as he patted Santo on his shoulder.

"So am I!" Amity said as she slapped Santo on his shoulder…with a lot of strength put into it.

"Ouch!"Santo tried again to control his voice in the train filled with people, having Amity around was…really embarrassing.

"The train has arrived at Nagisa Station…. The train has arrived at Nagisa Station…"

"That's our call guys." Forte said after he stood us "better get going, we are running on a pretty tight schedule here."

"Whew! Finally I don't have to stay in the same train with this pink gorilla, it was so embarrassing"

Santo said as he leapt up of his seat but not before a slap hit him on his…butt.

"Wait, what the…"

Too late, Amity already ran away.

"Ah! I'll get her!"

"Come on, let's go, Santo." Forte said as he left the train.

"Oh..right. Nagisa City…" and with that Santo stepped out of the train while the train system announced

"The train has arrived at Nagisa Station… The train has arrived at Nagisa Station…

…This is the final stop and all passengers will have to depart… the train will not turn back…

The train has come to a stop…it will not turn back…"

… It will not turn back.

* * *

Thank you for taking the time reading through this, I appreciate it.

I hope things aren't too vague and that I managed to express my feelings. In fact, the entirely of Inanna's dream might

be for me to express everything I feel about Umineko as a whole...so I'm glad to be able to see my story takes it's first step.

A few things to note

*The grammar might be pretty bad, it's not my strength...but that' s no excuse, I'll improve.

*I need an editor if possible. Just someone active and can spare a few minutes of their time.

*Sorry for releasing the first chapter so late!


	2. Fake Flower

When he stepped out the station, Santo is taken in by the sight of Nagisa City. Since the station is right at the peak of the entire city, it's clearly one of the places with a perfect view of the beautiful town.

Since it is winter, the town is mostly covered in white. Early Christmas decorations line up on the streetlights along the walkway of the town that leads to a large square filled with shops selling all kinds of things, from hot takoyakis to big stuff bears. People are walking around and chattering could be heard everywhere. At the corner of the square, Santo spotted a group of kids having fun building snowmen and at another corner of the square; another group of them are just running around. Clearly, the town seems to be in a festival mood and it's still early in the day Moreover, the snow cloaking the roofs of the houses and the buildings make everything looks like an elegant medieval kingdom. Nagisa city looks like an ancient kingdom capital covered in snow.

It was… breathtaking.

"Weee! Nagisa City is still the best, look at how beautiful it is!" Amity said as she ran back and forth like a little girl.

"Hmm…correct. We don't get to see a sight like this every other day. I guess it is because it is nearing Christmas and the snow seems to falling heavier than before…" Forte commented as a matter of factly.

"Hey Santo, don't you just want to go play in the snow and check out the food stalls?" Amity beamed.

"Uh..uh.."

"You do, don't you Santo? Even a cynical guy like you can't resis"

"AH-CHOOOOO!" Santo interrupted Amity with his sneeze.

"I'm glad I sneezed. I was actually debating in my mind whether to do it or not, just like with the yawning. But! The answer is still yes. I mean, who can resist sneezing?" Santo held his head high, clearly proud of his decision to sneeze loudly.

At that moment, Amity's face became really, really red. Like the fire you see in a winter forest…no, more like a volcano eruption in the winter mountains…

"SANTOOOO! Appreciate it! Appreciate this beautiful city! You…you!" She erupted.

"Sure…it's beautiful but I have other things to worry about, like…this cold and terrible weather is really horrible. The sight would have been better if it weren't so damn cold and-

…..

BOOM. PIAK. SMASH…

…more slaps. PIAK. CRASH. BOOM.

….

"…And?" Amity said as she finished her 45 slaps combo on the body of her newly-acquired punching bag.

Forte was frightened but at the same time can't help but laugh a little at the plight of Santo.

"…It…yes…the town…I mean, be-beauti-" before Santo can finish, Amity dragged him by his collar and shouted towards his ear…

"Let's go!"

"Yes Ma'am!" came the weak reply from Santo.

Forte followed the two of them as he look towards where they are heading, the place he value the most in this city…he gave a little smile as he look forward to reaching that place again although the last time he went , it wasn't that long ago.

* * *

"Yes, we get that a lot. Thank you very much and I hope that you come again!" the stall owner said as she passed the fifth box of takoyaki to the bubbly round man dressed in a yellow checker shirt that looks like it may burst anytime in front of her. The man wipes the takoyaki sauce off his mouth and clean his moustache as he digs into another box of this delicious delicacy.

"Is that the fifth box, Doctor?" came a feminine voice from behind him.

"Truly…it is an understatement to say that this…this ham takoyaki is delicious. It is beyond delicious, it is above heavenly…this food is godsend!" the doctor said as he rub his stomach.

"Mymy, not only are you a doctor of excellence but also a fine gourmet aren't you, Dr. **Hachijou Hara**?" the lady said as she finished drinking her coffee bought from one the stalls.

"Thank you! I take pride in what I choose to eat and they should not only be delicious but also be valoir la peine!"Hachijou exclaimed as he swallowed a takoyaki whole.

"Valoir la peine…hmm…with my little knowledge of French, I'll say that it means "worthwhile" or something in that sense, no?" The lady said after giving it some thought.

"Your French has definitely improved since the last time we've meet, Miss **Miami Miyazawa**." complimented the good doctor.

Miami Miyazawa is dressed in an office shirt with black dress with black and white bracelets and earrings. Along with her long black hair, her entire appearance looks professional and elegant. Miami Miyazawa has always made it a point to dress well, whatever the occasion may be.

"No no. My French is still pas bon…and how many times must I tell you to call me by my first name, Hachijou Hara?" Miami shot back.

No matter how much time has passed, Miami Miyazawa still dislikes people calling her "Miami".

In fact, it appears to people that she detests that name with a passion but still keeps it for whatever reason.

"Mia, remember? I would appreciate it if calls me by that and by that only."

"Oh, I apologize. Your hate for your own name seems to slip my mind at times. But I cannot deny the fact that I called you by your full name because you called me by mine first, good attorney" argued Hachijou as he finishes his takoyaki.

Mia sighed as she remembered why it slipped her tongue. Mia and Hachijou have known each other for a long period of time and are so acquitted that they will poke fun at each other, despite their age, not to mention calling each other their first names. Mia is a woman in her early thirties and a force to be reckoned with. She owns her own law firm and is a defense attorney feared by many but respected by so much more. On the other hand, Hachijou is a man in his early fifties and is a saviour to many. He has his own clinics and is someone respectable who had contributed a lot in the medical world.

"Every time I see you, Hachishan, it is always in newspaper with huge headings with your full name. So I will always associate you with your full name. It's hard to get out of habit when we only meet once in a while. The whole world knows you as Hachijou Hara, the great doctor and saviour of many." Mia said sincerely. She really respects Hachijou.

"And yet, I will feel more at ease when you all call me Hachishan, the nickname given to me by my wonderful friends in the church. I apologize for calling you…your full name. Ahem, but I do admire you. When you were younger they called you the Ace Rookie Mia. The one who bring storms to trials and shock the judges" Hachijou laughed and continued "I was a huge fan."

Mia sighed and said, "It's the same thing you're trying to get at again every time we meet."

"True, what I'm trying to say is our society status matter not when we are in Nagisa City so if you cannot relax because we haven't met for a long time, I want to let you know that you can now." Hachijou said as he patted Mia on her shoulder.

"Wise as ever aren't you. I guess you can see through me. You are correct…I'm pretty nervous to see you after such a long time." Mia said as she shrugged.

"Mia…" Hachijou spoke in a hushed tone…that took Mia by surprise.

"Yes..?"

"Over there! That stall is selling azuki pies, my sweet tooth is calling for me. Onwards, Mia!" shouted the so-called wise doctor as he rushed towards the stall.

Mia couldn't help but laugh out loud, the Hachishan she had known really haven't changed and that really make things simpler for her.

"Alright, but this is the last stall you are buying from. We are going to be late if you keep this up." Mia replied even though knowing that the doctor couldn't hear her and is too busy devouring his precious red bean pies.

* * *

A garden of white roses lay before the eyes of the three youngsters and they stand still as they take in the magnificent sight. The white roses seem to be shimmering, giving off a pale light.

"Wow…awesome…" Santo eyes lighted up.

"Heheheh, at least you know how to appreciate this!" Amity said and patted Santo on his back.

"Yeah…this flowers…who grew them?" Santo said.

"Grew them?" Forte asked and after he did…he couldn't help but laugh at Santo.

"Huh? What? What is so funny?" asked the curious Santo.

"Take a good look around you, what season is it now, Santo?" Forte asked.

"Winter…oh right." Santo scratched his head and asked "Wait, then this flowers..?"

"Allow me to explain that for you, Santo-san." Came a familiar voice that Santo can't seem to remember.

Standing in front of them, as if out of thin air, is a girl in long silky and pretty light blue hair. However, her hair is not the only thing that caught Santo's eye, everything about the girl did. The girl looks like a goddess and have eyes that looks like she came out from a manga…with snow white skin that makes her look like a princess. The girl is dressed in a white dress with a yellow logo printed on it and wearing a sapphire necklace that Santo seems to recognize from long ago.

"**Serral**!" shouted Amity as she jumped into the chest of the beautiful lady.

Serral? That name sounds…really familiar. It took Santo some time, no, it took quite a long time to remember the girl standing in front of her as Serral, the church girl who he used to play a lot with. He also remembered Serral as a cherry and optimistic girl who was always trying her best at whatever she does. Yes, Santo can remember her now because in the past, no one worked harder than her.

Although she is training to become a future "sister" and is often known as the "servant of god", no one really treated her that way. It is vague now but Santo was pretty sure that since a long time, Serral had been working at the church helping with all that she can. Now, Santo flash to the present and take a long hard look at the girl standing in front of her…

"Serraaaaaaaal!" Santo shouted as he dived for the chest of this beautiful girl.

This is his only chance, he thought. "It doesn't matter how long we haven't seen each other, I can still hug her like a kid right? And when I do hug her, I'll squeeze her so…so…tightly and enjoy... Bwahahahaha" shouting his thoughts out loud, Santo headed for the dive.

Only to be stopped by Forte as he grabbed Santo by his arm and push him down.

"Ahem, it seems that our little Santo still needs to grow up a little more." Forte said as he gave Santo an intimidating stare that said "Oh no, no you don't."

For a minute there, Santo felt like he was a dog bowing to his master… and that Big Bro Forte is really scary.

"Still a big pervert as always!" cried Amity as she hurls her slaps at Santo.

"Ahhh noooooo! Both of you are so scary! Save me, my beauty Serral!" shouted Santo as he hide behind Serral.

Serral giggled and said "It's good to see you again, Forte-san and Amity-san. I am also very pleased to see you again after such a long time, Santo-san."

"Hihihi, it's nice to see you again Serral" said Santo with a smile. Serral returned that smile with a little laugh that made Santo believe that she really is an angel. This is probably the greatest moment of the day.

"Ah Serral is the best! Unlike that pink gorilla that has been hitting me since morning" grunted Santo as he looks directly into the eyes of Amity.

"Why you! See Serral! That is why you shouldn't protect that useless piece of…piece of…pervert!" Amity cried as she charged towards Santo.

"A piece of pervert? Now that's a new phrase, you need to learn some good insults, little girl" said Santo smugly.

"Hmm...good insults?" Serral said as she put a finger to her chin, wondering.

"Uh, no…Serral that little girl wasn't referring to you…" Santo explained but it was a little too late.

"You piece of tulip! You piece of rose! You piece of daisy! And you piece of uh, apple!" Serral blurted her insults all at once.

The crowd went completely silent and looked awkwardly at each other.

"I-I'm sorry…I'm…not really good at this…all I know about are flowers…" Serral sounds like she is about to cry.

"But what is an apple doing in there?" Amity said softly.

"Ah, you see, apples are extremely cute things!" Serral eyes lit up.

"But insults weren't meant to be cute…" Amity cut in.

…Another wave of silence.

Serral looks sorry for creating the awkwardness and wishes to amend it somehow.

Too cute! Too damn cute! Was the only thing going through Santo mind when he looks at her.

"It's okay, Serral. I, the grand and almighty king of insults, Santo-sama will teach you everything you need to know about crushing someone with words! Bwahahaha!" Santo proclaimed.

"Really Santo-san? You will train me in that art?" Serral said excitedly.

"No. No, he won't." Forte cut in as he hit Santo on his head. "Insults are not a form of art and you should refrain from using them, Serral-chan."

"Ah...um, if Forte-san says so" Serral blushed and said.

….

Santo should probably know by now that there is something going on between Serral and Forte but Santo being Santo continues being an idiot and kept harassing Serral. Amity was really pissed off by this and had to slap him a few more times so that he will shut up and they can continue their talk about the garden of flowers…

Serral took a white rose out of her short sleeve and passed it to Santo.

"Here, give it a touch, but do it gently Santo-san."

Santo looked at the white rose curiously and gave it a little touch.

"This feeling…I think…it feels like plastic…or glass." Santo said and it didn't take long for him to conclude "It's…a fake flower isn't it?"

Serral smiled as she placed the "fake" flower onto the hands of Santo.

"But Santo-san, it looked really real. Do you say that it is fake just by its feel?"

Santo gave it a little thought and answered "No. After a closer look at the flower individually…I can see that it is shaped in a pretty unnatural way."

Then, as if he solved the little riddle.

"Not to mention that the flower is reflecting light, this is impossible unless it is made of something else!"

Upon hearing this, Serral walked towards the field of white roses while she asked Santo…

"Then, what about this field of roses? Do they look fake to you as well?" Serral said as she slightly brushed over the flowers, "Look at how real it is, amazing isn't it?"

"You're right; it's hard to tell they are fake when they are all together." Santo agreed "And it's so much prettier than any flower fields I have seen."

"Despite being what you called…fake, right Santo-sama?" Serral asked with a voice filled with warmth.

That has taken Santo back a little.

"Yet they are not the real thing despite being so beautiful" Amity finally said something. "Weird how something fake can be so pretty!"

"Well, it depends on the perspective." Forte added in.

Serral glanced at the white roses one more time before saying "I would take this flower field over any other flower field. Creating artificial flowers is my favorite thing to do this time of the year."

Santo stared at the white roses and smiled "It's really amazing. But you know something, Serral?"

"Yes Santo-san?"

"I think flowers that are hand- grown have its merits too…and I would prefer them because they give off smell. This is something that artificial flowers cannot give off."

The three of them were rather surprised by Santo.

"Ah…I was so captivated by the beauty that I didn't realize an important aspect that the flowers were lacking…" Forte slowly said.

"Wow…to think that Santo caught on to something like that!" Amity sounded somewhat impressed.

"Heheheh, this is nothing for the greatness that is Santo. My nose had its fair share of training from the amount of perfume that I smelt while hunting down girls throughout the years!" Santo boasted.

Forte gave a huge sigh because he felt ashamed for thinking that Santo was actually impressive catching on something like the smell of the flowers.

….

"Somebody kill this idiot…being near him completely destroys the beautiful scenery." Amity snorted as she pulls Forte and Serral away from the flower field towards the cathedral.

"Hey! Come on, wait for me….!" Santo shouted after them as he gave chase.

Santo just barely caught up when he realized that they stopped in their tracks.

"So you guys are waiting for me now? How kind of yo.." Santo could hardly finish his line when he saw a young man standing in front of them.

The young man has well-groomed light blue hair and very pale skin. But the one thing that Santo immediately notice about him was his eyes. He has cold eyes, eyes that show traces of nihilism. He is wearing a long white shirt with the same yellow logo that is found on Serral's dress…

Wait, Serral? This young man standing in front of them looks so much like Serral, in fact, he might as well be the male version of Serral!

"Sister, you had taken quite some time. Do you not understand the importance of this day?" the young man said coldly as he looks down on Serral.

"I-I'm sorry, Jerral." Serral gave a small nod and turned back to us

"I have to go now. I wish I could escort you three further into the church but…I have some urgent duties to see to. I am really sorry, Forte-san, Amity-san and Santo-san!" Serral bowed and quickly took her lift.

"She didn't have to go away so fast" Santo said, sounding a little annoyed.

Jerral looked at him and said coldly "You must be Santo-san. My name is Jerral, Jerral **Ina.**"

Huh? That took Santo off guard, he was sure that Jerral and Serral are related somehow but how is this young man related to Amity and Forte?

It was only for a moment, but Santo could clearly notice it when he turned to look at his companions and both of their faces were carrying a sad look. Only for them to quickly revert to a smile and gave Santo his answer.

"You can already see, Santo. Jerral and Serral are related, they are twin brothers and sisters" explained Forte.

"The last name "Ina" is well… it is pretty complicated." Amity hesitated.

"It is nothing of that sort, miss Amity. I took the name Ina by my own will. The name Ina is engraved into me for a reason and for that one reason only." Jerral said as he looks directly into the eyes of Santo.

"It is for me to be bound eternity to the family of Ina, in order to serve them, like I would serve Inanna the goddess that I forever follow."

For the first time in the day, Santo was at a loss for words…Forever? Ina…and Inanna…?

"I hope there are no other enquiries. Now, follow me as I escort the three of you into the church." Jerral used a tone that suggested asking anything else would just ended up with more cold replies and ended their conversation as he turned his back and led the three of them.

Not even a minute of conversation and Santo decided that it might be a little difficult to get along with this guy.

Santo decided to shelf his questions off for now and ask Amity and Forte when he gets the chance to be alone with them again as they followed Jerral into the cathedral.

* * *

*This chapter was kind of fast. I'm still looking for editors and beta-readers because grammar and sentencing might be off.

*I think I need to improve on my descriptive, uh, stuff. Like, describing sceneries, etc.

*For those who are confused with "cathedral" and "church". Just know that it is done on purpose.

*Thank you for taking the time to read this!


	3. Welcome Back

/**Zel's Corner**/

Eh, because you know, everyone is totally doing this so I'm just going with the flow of having my own complaining/discussing/annoying my readers/having fun on my own section. Just so you know I won't be doing this every chapter unless I have something to say but most of them might end up being crap…wait, this one is not going to be crap. For everyone reading my chapters up till now, I want to express my gratitude to you, thank you! Really, I don't know who actually read towards the end of the chapter and who didn't and just closed the window because my writing was bad or something else. I would really appreciate reviews as it would provide a huge boast in motivation! I will definitely reply them! But no worries if you do not wish to write one, it's the thought that I'll keep in my heart. MAGIC! I RECEIVE YOUR FEELINGS!

Oh great, now I have a wall of text not even related to the plot, a turn-off. Now for this chapter itself, I think I did okay for describing places and people, I hope it's not vague. Please tell me if something is not clear! I am still looking for beta-readers/editor. Next chapter is going to better than this! I'll try to make every chapter better than the previous. Okay, that is all for the ramblings, sorry if I went on for too long…

* * *

As Santo and the rest walked down the aisle of the cathedral, it reminded him of the times when he was at the church of Inanna and how much fun it was.

"This place hasn't changed by much." Santo said as he looks around the cathedral.

The sunlight shining in through the colourful stained glass mirrors gave the entire cathedral a bright shine along with the rows of benches lined up from the door to the altar. The cathedral look as majestic as it was back in those days.

The cathedral is two stories high and when Santo lift his head up, he was greeted by both a familiar and amazing sight. The cathedral has an internal elevation of up to 3 stages with marble capitals spaced apart from each other and columns that open in to more seats on the second floor. But what has caught Santo's eye is the ceilings. The ceilings are filled with vaults of the cathedral that are supported by the white marble pillars. But what is amazing about the ceiling is the paintings on it. The vaults are made up of wood that looks like gold and it seems to be spitting the paintings up to severe parts…like it is telling a story. The paintings are be masterfully done and Santo has never seen a painting like this on the ceiling of the cathedral he used to know so well before so he couldn't help but point up and asked

"What's that?"

Jerral stopped when he heard Santo's question and turned back and answered

"That's the legend of Inanna, Santo-san."

"Umm… you mean you don't know about this?" Amity sounds pretty sure that Santo might know this.

"Did you forget, Amity? This painting wasn't here back then" Forte said.

Amity covered her mouth like she's trying to say that she totally forgot.

"It shall be my honour to explain the paintings to you, Santo-san." Jerral said but not before he gave a little shook. "However, it may be wise for you to pay attention to the time."

Santo scratched his head and then turned to Forte.

"The time now is…1.12pm. We are, unfortunately to say, late" Forte told Santo what he wanted to know before he could ask.

Jerral stared at Santo and turned his back and kept moving as he suggested "It is unwise if you keep the rest waiting and the story is also…a long one."

Santo gave a nervous shrug and decided to keep moving.

…Not before he stopped again and louder than before, he exclaimed

"What is that?"

Standing right in front of them is a stone sculpture standing at 7 feet tall. Whoever the sculpture was depicting…it looks real as hell Santo thought.

The woman in the sculpture is standing on two lions while holding a prayer to her chest. She has medium length hair and is dressed in a long gown. The woman in the sculpture has a face of an angel and not surprising, two wings sprouting out of her back.

Santo was rather surprised; he had never seen a sculpture so real as if frozen in time. The sculpture has her eyes closed and the expression on her seems to be devoid of all emotions except sadness. The posture of her holding a prayer with her head downwards…made a part of Santo heart ache a little just by looking at it.

Santo might have heard it wrong but he seems to hear a sigh coming from Jerral.

"Inanna." Forte said seriously as he looks at the statue.

"Inanna? The goddess of this church?" Santo questioned.

"How rude, Inanna is not only the goddess of this church, but the goddess of the world" Jerral interrupted.

"Santo…I know you are forgetful but…that was a dumb question" shot Amity. "I mean, didn't you know Inanna back then too?"

Santo didn't take long to recall.

"Yeah…I know her…" he said as he fold his arms and look at the closed eyes of Inanna.

"This goddess… she brought us all together right?" Santo smiled as he said.

Forte walked towards the sculpture and spoke, with his back facing Santo.

"I guess it is not a surprise to hear you ask since this sculpture of worship was only built some time ago."

"To be precise, Daimon-sama had it built 2 years ago" confirmed Jerral.

Santo took another long look at the sculpture and said "How beautiful…she really is."

He wanted to admire her beauty for a little longer before Amity slapped him on his back.

"Come on! We have to go, we are late rememember?"

"Y-Yeah." Santo gave a weak response.

Jerral gave a small bow and before he proceeded on said "I am happy to see you in awe of Inanna-sama, Santo-san. But we really have to move. I will have the pleasure of telling you the story of the paintings and explaining the reason for building this sculpture to you when we have the time."

Santo gave a little wave to say sorry for the sudden stops.

Forte shook his head and says that it is alright since it's been so long since Santo had stepped in here.

* * *

Mia is worried and is considering various endings in her mind.

"Will he turn up? Or will he cower and run away?" she thought to herself as she bit her thumb and before she could come to her own rather pointless conclusion, the tap on her shoulder by Bishop knock her out of her daze.

"Hoho, it appears that you answer has arrived, Mia-san" shouted Bishop as he pointed towards the door.

"Ah…" Like always, whenever Mia thinks about something, she'll go into a daze for a short period of time and will either snap out of it when she reaches her own deduction or when someone from outside snaps her out of it. That's how it's always been in her court cases which earned her the nickname of the "Dreaming Attorney".

The people, who entered the door, lead by the under-sacristan boy Jerral, are Forte Ina and Amity Ina. It's been some time since Mia has seen the both of them so her face really lit up when she saw them.

But what made her smile and laugh out loud in joy is the appearance of a certain fool.

Dressed in a white shirt with dark yellow buttons covered with a sleeveless blazer vest, along with a long blue and white stripped tie is Santo Amaya.

"Hahahaha!" Mia's laugh filled the entire cathedral hall.

Santo immediately gave a look of disgust when he heard that and instantly knew who would laugh so weirdly.

"Not again, can you please stop that way of laughing, Mia?"

Mia tried to control her laughter but is still laughing when she spoke

"Nono! I just never thought you would really turn up. I always thought of you as a coward that always ran away all the time so I…hahaha, never thought you would dress so formally and come, you know?"

Santo wasn't really surprised but still a little ticked off  
"Hey! Is that how you think of your student who has been following you for 2 years?" Santo said as he pointed at Mia.

That is right. For a second there, Santo almost forgotten that the lady in black standing in front of him is his mentor, Mia. 2 years ago, Santo met her again after leaving the church, in the courthouse where she defended him which inspired him to follow her and learn from her. Without her, Santo might not even see the bright light of day ever again. From then on, Santo decided that he would do whatever it takes to become a righteous attorney just like Mia. Although Santo is still at a young age of 19, he has already seen his fair share of cases when following Mia for the past 2 years and he is thankful for that too. But now he just wants his mentor to get out of this room and stop laughing.

Mia stopped laughing but still said cheerily "Now, of course not! But…knowing my student's personality and all, I can deduce the outcome already. Hahaha, now this is going to be good, I can't wait to see what you will say to the rest of them after all these years."

Okay, Santo decided that that one really hurt and he had to deny Mia's pleasure of fooling around with him so he huffed up and said

"Fine! I'm leaving!" as he turned from Mia's laugh and headed for the door where he came from.

"Aww, you're awfully petty today, Santo" Mia said as she continued her laughing.

Santo walked towards the door but is stopped by a huge body blocking his path…

"I'm afraid that will not do, Santo. Mia is right when she said that you do owe us, at the very least, the time for a day."

Ugh. Hachijou Hara. The most persistent doctor he had ever met. It doesn't look like he has changed this year either. Santo often wonder how someone with a weight like him is qualified to be a doctor…

"Hachishan…haha, long time no see. Now if you would please get out of th-

"Santo-kun!" that voice can only belong to Karen oba-san.

Santo sighed, this one might proved to be difficult. Karen oba-san, despite Santo always calling her "oba-san" or "old maid" when he is fooling around, she never failed to show him a smile on her face. Karen oba-san is always so pleasant and polite. Santo remembered her as someone who always chase after perfection and is one of the most morally upright person he had ever known in his life. In fact, she is so morally upright that when she puts her values in actions, it can be so drastic and…scary. Karen oba-san is not someone to be angered and that made Santo sweat a little. But the poor boy has a soft spot for this mother-like figure.

He took a few back steps and said "W-Why…if it isn't dear oba-san."

"My wife is beautiful as always, no?" came the voice along with a pull from behind.

Crap, this guy is the hardest to handle. Santo didn't have to guess to know that he is Bishop Ina…or known as Bishop-ossan. It sounds weird but it sure suits him. Not only is Bishop-ojisan someone who follows strictly by the rules of the church like an old guy and also someone who is devoted to the religion, he is someone who will push his own beliefs to you without a second though just because he is the priest. He is also an incredible businessman, being the founder of the greatest Medicine and Science Company in the country. Yet, Santo know that behind all the strict-man and serious personality is also a man with a loving heart. At least, Santo hopes that his "loving" heart will help him at the moment.

"See…guys, there's this awesoooome Mahou Shoujo anime that I want to watch and…"

Santo said as he scanned the crowd and all of them are familiar faces, he could see Amity and Forte, trying to hold back their laughter but Serral and Jerral seems to be missing from the crowd. The adults all seem to be having fun at what they are doing to him. However, there is one guy's face who Santo cannot remember.

Bishop pushes Santo down onto the sofa facing the centre of the large coffee table.

Mia gave a little laugh as she sat down opposite him and the rest followed except for one woman.

The woman has bright orange hair tied in a small ponytail on the left side of her head. She looks to be in her early fourties but anyone could easily mistake her for someone in the late twenties because of her youthful face. She is dressed in a woolly dark green blouse, with a brown sweater and a long brown skirt

**Gina Kase. **Aunt Gina, Santo thought to himself to never offend this lady unless he really had to. She is a very career and money-minded woman. He can only remember her of the times when she reprimanded him because he scored low in his tests or when he had no table manners…which is almost every time but let's not keep that in mind. Although Aunt Gina can come across as shrewd and fussy at times, Santo knows that most of the time she does that for his own good.

Gina looks at Santo and put her hand on his shoulder before smiling and said

"Santo-san, it's been a loooong time. So we really have a lot of catching up to do…" as she push him down and sat down beside him.

Santo sigh and wanted to swear, but decided against it.

It was useless and he figured, why not? It was his fault for leaving without a word back then and he has a lot of catching up to do.

Santo was about to start apologizing when the door boomed open and a little girl rushed in.

The little girl is wearing a yellow-brown beret hat and in her mouth…is a pipe…for smoking?

Wait…Santo took a while to readjust his thoughts that it is just a replica. It looks a lot like the pipe that Sherlock Holmes used to smoke…come to think of it this little girl is dressed in a detective-theme costume.

With a short overcoat to fit her small size and a green sweater, along with dark brown shorts…she looks like she came out of a detective novel.

The little girl lifted her hat up, that revealed her bright blonde hair, and folded her arms before shouting…

"The great detective girl, Lily Minase has arrived at the crime scene! Aaaaand you, the culprit shall not go off scoot-free!"

Santo is pretty sure the "detective" who just entered the room is pointing at someone.

Oh right, she is pointing at him.

* * *

Not long after Lily entered the room, a man wearing thick round glasses and a businessman cut hairstyle dressed in a dark purple casual tuxedo rushed into the room.

"Lily! That's no good of you isn't it? Put that finger down right this moment!"

Lily hardens her face and stares at Santo fiercely

"But papa, he is the culprit… he is the odd one out, the stranger!" Lily shouted out loud as to prove her point and starting rushing towards Santo and took out what appears to be a…revolver.

Lily then pointed directly at Santo's head and shoot

"Baaaang! Die you scum!"

"N-No!" Santo leapt out of his seat and crashed on the coffee table.

Everyone stared at Santo and after a while, the entire cathedral resting room broke out in laughter.

"Fufufu…that was a nice one, Santo" cried Bishop

"Yeah, I agree" added Forte with a laugh.

"Hahaha! As expected from my student! " Mia just had to say that.

"I can't believe you got fooled by that, Santo" laughed Aunt Gina.

"Huh…" said Santo as he looks at the girl and then at everyone in disbelief.

"Hehehe, got you! Got you!" Lily jumped on top of Santo and point the revolver at him while she gave it a few more shots to his head.

"Oh nonono, stop that now Lily!" the man in the purple tuxedo tried to calm his energetic daughter down.

Santo realized his own foolishness for believing that it was a real gun and how embarrassing it was for him to pull a stunt like that.

"Why you…little brat!" Santo shouted as he pushes his fist onto the head of the girl who he just came to know as Lily. He had to make sure that he put minimal force into it as he didn't want to hurt the girl.

"I'm sorry, Santo-san. It is just…it's the first time since my Lily has seen you after so long so she doesn't recognize you" the man in the tuxedo said as he gently grab the fake revolver away from Lily's hand.

"Hmph! Lily won't be defeated by this culprit's little punch" Lily pouted as she raised her hand to try and grab the fake revolver back from his father's hands.

"Listen to daddy Lily, it's not good to scare poor Santo-san like that!"

Ah. Santo finally remembered who this middle-aged man in the dark purple tuxedo is, **Ryu Minase **or Uncle Ryu. Santo remembers Ryu Minase as someone who hated standing out and hated drawing attention to himself. He always seems to be nervous and is constantly jittering around. He remembered that talking to him almost always ended awkwardly. But he didn't mind it because Uncle Ryu was a single parent and he admired the man for being able to take care of young Lily back then.

Young Lily…! Santo took a long hard look at Lily Minase before giving her a little pat on her head

"Now I remember! You're Lily! The cute little Lily from that time, wow you were just a little bean back then. Ahahahaha, how much you've grown. What are you now, 6?"

Lily tilt her head and directly answered "Who are you? And Lily is 9, not stupid 6, stupid! "

"No Lily, no being rude" Ryu said as he tugged his daughter's overcoat and started to explain to Lily who Santo is.

"Ugh…so she completely forgotten me" Santo said and decided that it would be pointless to continue.

"It's been 6 years after all, Santo-san. I doubt Lily could remember you when she was just a toddler. In fact, I don't think many of us can recognize you now, if not for Mia-san's pictures, after all this years." Hachijou commented as he moved the table back to its original position.

Hachijou words had directed all the attention in the room onto Santo.

Santo sat back on his seat and said "Well…I guess. I'm really sorry for taking so long to come back. I mean…" he paused as he chose his words "I didn't expected to be allowed to come back here again. Hah." he ended with a small laugh that sounded more like a choke.

The room fell into a silence for a moment but it's not like everyone have nothing to say, it was just them thinking of what to say. They didn't want to say anything insensitive nor do they want to ended up saying the wrong thing and to relay their feelings incorrectly. Everyone was about to say something when Lily shouted

"Santo, you really are an idiot you know!"

Santo look at Lily, not sure what to be expecting from this little girl.

"The Inanna family always welcome anyone, whoever and whenever. Daddy says no one will be denied when you want to join as long as you are a good person!"

Lily folded her shoulders still acting like a detective and innocently asked

"Hmm…Are you a good person, Santo?"

"He's right, Santo-oh! This place will always be here for you" Amity said as she gave a light slap on Santo's chest.

Santo's eyes widen and gave a little laugh as he look at everyone's expression.

All of them are carrying a smile, agreeing with what Amity has said.

"Daddy always says that the 14 of us are the original **IF**, the original Inanna Family!" Lily pouted a little and continued "so I guess I'll gladly welcome you back!"

Santo didn't expect this. He had thought that while they might not blame him openly, they will carry some form of hate for him and he didn't know what to do when met with that hate or denial. But he didn't want to run from his guilt and he didn't want to run from his past too. He is really grateful if they were to really forgive him and give him his place besides them again.

Santo lowered his head when he felt like something is whelming up in his eyes. He really doesn't want to show those tears to them.

But he couldn't help it anymore, not when he looked up to all of them as they said with their happy faces

"Welcome back, Santo!"

Santo rubbed his eyes and shouted "Who cleaned this room today? Damn dust keeps getting into my eyes…ugh…"

The room broke into a joyous laughter, "Hey now, don't cry Santo-_chan!_" Aunt Gina pointed out.

"Shuddup! I'm not crying!" Santo argued before he finally said…

"Yeah….I'm back."


	4. The Underground Church

Far away from the room with so much laughter lies another desolated room where only small rays of light can escape into.

The room is filled with bookshelves consisting of old books with most of them as old as the age of its master and the furniture in the room is made up of wood and gold that seems to be far too grand to be placed in a single room. However, it is only befitting for everything in this room to be worth more than gold, just like its master.

At this time of the day, the master of this room will most likely be reading his grimoires or resting in his massive bed.

But today, the master is found facing his study table apparently in deep thought.

Leaving the built-in miniature kitchen is Serral as she carries the meal over to the study table for the master. As Serral approaches the study table, she cannot help but feel nervous just by this man, this man known as the "Creator of Magic" by many. She cannot help but shiver when she looks at the black cape that overflows from his back, as if emanating darkness itself.

"Leave it on the table, Serral. Daimon-sama will consume his meal at a later time"

In the same room stands Jerral. He cannot help but notice his sister's loss of focus and afraid that her sister might even mess up something as simple as serving a meal, he walk forward and help her put the meal aside. Jerral made sure he looked at his sister eyes to send his message across for her to calm down.

The master of the room gave a small grunt and without even turning his back to face the two spoke, "Be at ease, Serral. It tires me to order that of you every noon." Serral looks down and apologized as soon as he finished "I'm really sorry Daimon-sama…it's just that-

"That you do not wish to do anything unholy in front of me? A foolish notion. That only time where you spilled my meal on my cape has created fear that reminds you every time you were to serve me my meal."

Jerral spoke with as much respect as he could, like he always did "I truly apologize for my cowardly sister, Daimon-sama."

The master gave a little laugh and turned, facing the two as he said  
"You two are the servants of the great creator, **Daimon Ushiromiya. **Even if you have fear, I expect you will turn that to strength in due time. Serral, you have a holy heart but you need to equip yourself with an unwavering mind. Without that, you will become weak. "

"Yes." Serral replied as she relaxed…as easily as this person can create storms in her heart, he can turn it into light waves with only a few words.

Daimon then took a look at Jerral and before he turned his back to them said "Jerral…you have an unwavering mind but lack the heart of light…it is a pity."

Jerral thought for a long time before asking "With all respect, Daimon-sama. You seem to be behaving a little…different today." It was a bold question; no…a servant should not even ask his master questions. Just like how no worshiper should question his god. But Jerral didn't know what came over him to ask a question like that. The truth is he didn't really want to know the answer because Daimon Ushiromiya has always been like this, he has always been…volatile in his emotions.

Serral took this chance and cheerfully asked "Um…Could it be because of the children and about the gathering today?" Serral couldn't help but beam with happiness, to think that her strict and cold master would be happy about this. The master she knew would pay no heed to something like that but if, by any chance he did, Serral wanted to know even if she was not supposed to ask.

There was a long silence as both of the questions float in the air. From the corner of the room, they could hear the faint sounds of the people playing, probably the children, from the meeting room of the church. It was then that the both of them realized that they shouldn't have asked and that Daimon-sama is angered. They took turns looking at each other but both of them do not have the courage to mutter another word.

Just when Jerral finally decide to apologize again, Daimon Ushiromiya gave a light laugh and spoke

"I will write a story."

The twins were taken back by what their master had just said. For many years now Daimon Ushiromiya had stopped writing stories and although once in a while, their master would pen down something, it would always be poems or short letters.

It was certainly a rare event for him to outright proclaim that he will start a tale after such a long time.

Daimon gave his chair a little shake and took up his pen again as he said

"It will be my last tale. It will be one so grand and befitting of my status…one that will steal breathes away."

Daimon chuckled as he continues "One that will create many things but destroy none. Hahaha, but certainty will not allow creation without destruction. That is why it will take a miracle to be able to finish this story! A miracle will be needed to create her…to create my dearest **Inanna**."

Serral was not able to understand what her master is saying but when she look at the pained expression on his face everytime her master mentions Inanna, she cannot help but feel sympathy. Pity was written all over her face as she serve his master tea.

Daimon took a slip of his tea before turning to the two of them

"I am grateful, for you two gave me the inspiration for the beginning of my tale. But as for now, you can take your leave. "

Serral and Jerral gave a silent bow to say that they are happy to be of help, although what they really want to say is "what kind of inspiration did we give?" but they knew that Daimon-sama was serious when he wanted them to leave, with no questions asked.

The moment the twins had closed the door behind them, Daimon look at the piece of blank paper lying in front of him and gave a sad laugh as he shouted out towards the ceiling of his room

"It is here, it is finally here! I've waited long enough. The end is near, the end is finally near, Inanna!"

Daimon took off the ring on his index finger and gave it one look, a look of terrible disgust.

The ring is crafted by gold and silver and erected in middle of it is a huge diamond. It is an elegant ring that even though many years have passed did not age at all. When everyone would only be amazed by it, Daimon Ushiromiya can only look at it with pain.

Daimon took the ring and along with his right fist rams it repeatly onto the study table until his hand started to bleed, soaking the white piece of paper with his blood. Daimon look at the paper soaked in red as he laughed hysterically

"The key is here! Every character of my story is here! So now let us color that white world of yours in red, Inannaaaaa! I will create it, I will create it! !"

From the other side of the world, in the white world that Daimon Ushirmiya believes in is a miracle that he must obtain. As he realize this truth, Daimon cover his face and in the motion like he was about to crush his own skull, a huge evil grin spread on his lips at the same time as tears fell from his eyes.

Daimon Ushiromiya wants this madness to end.

* * *

"The answer is 3! 3 moves are all that it takes!" Santo exclaimed as he points at Lily.

"Uwaaaa! Santo got it correct again!" Lily whined. Santo gave a mocking laugh "Bwahaha, as if there is any riddles that can defeat the great santo-sama"

Just moments ago, Santo and Lily just met each other but since both are avid fans of puzzles and mysteries and not to mention that Santo is just like a child, this 2 children get along pretty well.

Lily puffed and said "No way! You probably cheated someway or something…next!" Ryu, Lily's father, pat his daughter's head in an attempt to calm her down but his encouragement made Lily even more fired up as she search for a tougher riddle in her "legendary riddles compendium" book. While she searches, the group started remarking on the previous riddle…

"Heeeh…how weird, I thought I was right with 4" Amity said as she look at her fingers.

"Well, I got the answer 3 but it was just random guessing" commented Karen.

"I'm right but I took a little too long" Forte added in.

Mia gave a little laugh as she said "At least you've tried. Ignore that loud-mouth guy; he's always been good with riddles and quizzes. Give him that little chance to shine because that might be the only thing he is good at."

Santo is still laughing to himself as he pretends not to hear that because it was…kind of true.

"Now that I think of it, Santo has always been pretty smart, hasn't he?" Bishop commented.

Santo definitely heard that because he stopped laughing and leaned a little closer to Bishop.

"Bwaha…now did I hear someone praising me?"

Gina pushes Santo away to the left and added "I don't think so, Bishop-ossan. This young prankster is just lucky for today."

Santo fold his hands and tried to argue back, he wasn't going to willingly let this praise about his only pride go unheard but Hachijou pushes Santo back to the left and defended him "Ah, but it takes a lot of luck to get all 3 correct in a row!"

"H-Hey…" Santo tries to say something before he is pushed by Ryu towards Lily

"I guess the next match will decide whether Santo is lucky or not." Ryu finished. The adults seems to be having fun pushing Santo around and when Santo realized that they are doing on purpose he had to shout out loud

"Stop pushing me arooound!"

Amity slaps him on his cheek and said "Hey, we can't help picking on our Santo that we hadn't seen for ages riiight?"

Ouch, not again with the slaps.

For the past half an hour, Santo had been enjoying time with everyone in the room. They were catching up on his life and Santo was catching up on theirs while listening to Lily's riddles. Apparently Santo thought that for the past 6 years, his life had been really exciting but when he heard of how Bishop saved his company three times from getting bankrupt and how Ryu manage to bring Lily up brightly, he realizes he still has a lot of growing up to do.

As he was about to get back to Amity for the slaps, he was interrupted by a voice he could not recognize.

"Are you guys done fooling around?"

The voice came from the corner of the room and standing there is a guy that Santo does not remember but still looks familiar. He has to be somewhere in his memory.

He is dressed in a black collar shirt with a denim jacket and jeans. The guy's most notable features is his striking brown hair with streaks of white added to it, his hair is spikey so it looks a lot like a lion's mane that is spread out. The second thing Santo noticed was the three earrings on his left ear that seems to be made of silver.

But the thing that pisses Santo off the most has got to be the face of the guy, he seems to be angry at something and his narrow eyes makes him look like a yakuza from a movie he watched.

He can tell that this guy is roughly his age but why does he gets to look so fierce while he is pushed around by the adults?

He is like a hooligan…a real bad one.

"Oh Kaito!" Gina shouted across the room.

"Don't do that! It's embarrassing like hell" Kaito shouted back in return.

"Don't you dare shout at your mother like that!" came the angry reply.

Kaito grumbled as he rushed forward and grab Santo.

The sudden approach and the firm grip in his hand startled Santo.

"What the…?"

Kaito then let go and Santo stumbled back. He gave a sigh and said

"So this is the guy eh? The shit that abandoned Inanna back then?"

"H-H-Hey, take that back! Why are you calling Santo-san shit?" Ryu tried to defend Santo.

Kaito gave him an intimidate stare and that was enough to shut Ryu up, as he always did, this guy who he has to call Uncle Ryu annoys the hell out of him.

"What a wuss…U-Uncle R-Ryu! Hahaha." Kaito purposely stutter in his words to mock him.

"Don't call daddy a wuss!" Lily shouted out.

Ryu put his head down because he can feel his face burning, no, he wasn't flaring up. He was ashamed. **Kaito Kase, **although everyone in the Inanna Family is always kind and understanding to Ryu, this child…this child is not.

But Ryu understands, he only has himself to blame…for being such a coward and for being a society reject. Even though it was just a little insult from Kaito, it was still a huge blow for Ryu.

"Kaito! That is enough. Do you not have any respect for me, your mother, and everyone else here?" Gina said as she kept her angry tone.

Everyone was looking at Kaito, at that moment… to him all of the eyes seems to be rejecting him. This seems to piss him off even more and he was about to start cursing when a voice stopped him.

"Kaito…will you stop?"

It came from Amity.

She has said that with a sad tone, probably the saddest tone that Santo had heard from her for the entire day.

Kaito look at Amity and he bit his tongue. He shrugged and putting his hands into his pockets said "Fine…whatever. Look, I just came here to help the servants tell you all that lunch is ready. So yeah."

A brief silence passed the room.

"Thank you for telling us that Kaito" Aunt Karen thanked him gently as she pushes Kaito along.

"Shall we leave the puzzles for later and head over for lunch now?" Bishop regained his composure and announced.

Everyone could only agree. What Kaito had done has destroyed the atmosphere in the room completely but they didn't want to pursue it any further and what other way can there be to change things up than with an enjoyable meal?

Before Kaito leave the room, he turns back, clench his fist and point it towards Santo. Santo was taken aback again by this guy that seems to enjoy acting randomly, but he wasn't about to give in. He returned Kaito's intimidating stare with his own.

"What do you want now?" Santo carefully said that without making it sound too loud or threatening.

The reply finally came after a short term of suspense.

"Heh. Nothing. I just wanted to get a goooood look at those eyes of yours."

"And?"

"Like they said, eyes of a dead fish. Haha!"

With a mockery tone and a degrading laugh, Kaito left the room before Santo can say anything.

"T-That bastard…!" Santo couldn't find anything else to say besides that.

As everyone starts to leave the room to head for the dining room, Santo gritted his teeth, he had no idea what the hell that was all about but he knew whatever hate that guy has for him, it's not unfounded.

The only ones left in the room now are Hachijou and Santo. It seems that they assigned the good doctor to brief Santo on who exactly is the guy who just tried to start a fight with him on such a pleasant day.

Hachijou patted Santo on his back and after moments of hesitation started to explain

"His name is Kaito Kase. That fellow may be a slightly hot-headed at times but he is a good man" Hachijou said "He is the son of Gina, but you should have already found out by yourself."

"They share…the same family name?" Santo asked.

"Unfortunately." Hachijou hesitated before continuing "His father died in an accident 6 years ago, leaving Gina alone to bring him up."

Santo didn't know what to say about this.

"In his father's place, Kaito joined the IF."

"The IF?"

"The Inanna Family, remember?"

"Ah."

"Do you really remember? There are 14 of us in the group. We were specially chosen."

"14 people…the original 14. I…remember now. The one that is not here today… His name…that uncle that I always played with…"

Santo remember it clearly now….Uncle Roberto. So he has passed away.

Although Uncle Roberto was the most distant one to Santo out of the 13 that he knew in the family, Santo could tell he was a great guy.

It was still terrible to hear that he had passed away the same year Santo left the Inanna Family.

"I'm sorry…to hear that."

"Please, Santo. I think you can understand the loss of family as well. Do try and become friends with Kaito.

It will be easy as both of you are guys of the same age."

There was a pause and Santo didn't know what to promise but still replied "Yeah…I'll try…but why does he hate me so much?"

"…That is something I would want to know as well. I think that the adults will ask him that some time later and I will find out from them. Don't worry, leave it to me."

After hearing that, Santo decided it would be for the best. He doesn't get why Kaito hates him but he decided to wait and see

what happens next.

Santo smiled and then laugh "Like always eh? "leave it to me!" Just like what a doctor would say"

"I am the doctor after all. Now, the doctor is very hungry and malnutrition just will not do!" Hachijou laughed as he rubs his tummy.

"I get it, I get it. Let's go and not keep the others waiting."

"Exactly what I'm getting at!"

The exchange wasn't particularly funny but they both laugh, glad that they understand each other like 6 years ago as they walk towards the dining room with Hachijou leading.

* * *

As Santo opens the door to leave the meeting room, he was surprised to see a flight of stairs…leading downwards.

"What is the matter Santo?" Hachijou asked.

Santo gave it a quick think-through, this is the first floor…if they are heading downwards and there are no more rooms left on this level…

"Wait, the dining room is underground?"

Hachijou scratch his face as he remembered.

"Oh…it was different 6 years ago. Let me briefly explain it to you. This is the second entrance via the meeting room. The first entrance is towards the left corner of the cathedral."

"First entrance? Second entrance?"

"Yes, there are two different entrances to the church. We don't usually let our guests enter via the second entrance because it is only restricted to the Inanna Family. Everyone else uses the second entrance."

"Then I guessed right…the entire church…is built underground?"

Santo was surprised but at the same time amazed. Santo continue to follow Hachijou down the stairs as he continue

"In this case, the definition of "church" is a peculiar one. A normal definition refers to church as "a building to worship god" am I wrong?"

"No. But isn't the church that I've seen 6 years ago a building? It was a grand one too."

"It was a magnificent one. That church 6 years ago was known as the _Kuroseppen_ church. However, as the church expands and grows, that building was taken down and Daimon-san decided to move the entire church underground."

Santo cringe at the mention of Daimon-san but decided against asking about him right now.

"You mean the place that we are heading down right now is the church?"

"The definition of church can also refer to that part of the whole Christian body, or of a particular denomination, belonging to the same city, country and nation. While not particularly identical in definition, the underground that we are heading to belongs to the whole Inanna believers."

Santo wasn't exactly getting it and although Hachijou had always been a detailed guy, he can't help but get confused by what he said. But what he gets so far is that the entire church, along with its facilities like the dining room, is underground.

An underground church filled with many facilities and is probably built with the highest quality of materials and a detailed infrastructure. Together with the cathedral, this makes up the Inanna's church.

"That guy…why did he do something like this? With his wealth, he could easily buy the land and expand the church on the surface."

Hachijou stops as he opens the door, leading to the corridors of the underground church. After he opened the door, he answered Santo's question

"He was a supernatural man, no, that cannot begin to even describe my respectable friend. His reason behind it was an unbelievable one but it was fitting for him."

Hachijou laugh out loud as he said

"He said he had enough of ruling the lands and seas. So now he wants to rule everything else below the world."

Santo cannot help but widen his eyes and let his jaw drop a little before he mutter "What..the.."

"Hahaha, an expected reaction but no one knows whether that is the real reason or not." Hachijou finished as he proceed on.

Santo stood there in daze for a while but it didn't take long for him to come back as he remembered who Daimon Ushiromiya really is.

No, Daimon Ushiromiya wasn't just anyone.

A small businessmen that rose high in power.

Known to many as the "Creator of Magic", this person has rise from being a mere low-class citizen of the nation to someone who holds the same status as a king. But the crown he wears is no ordinary crown; it is like many of his friends and enemies calls it, the crown of miracles. He was just one man who owns a small business but in a few years, that business expanded insanely. Soon, he had gain billions under his name and even that was nothing compared to his feats. Santo knew, as do the world.

At the end of World War 2 when this country is coping from its economical loss, it was this one businessman that help led it back to its formal glory. Although it was unclear what he did but everyone knows that without him, this country economy might have never been brought back to what it is now. As he rose in power, there are those who would usurp his golden throne, he had uncountable enemies. There was this one article that Santo remembered vividly, the article about a group of his trade rivals gathering together to destroy him, even to the extent of hiring guns to destroy his trade. But he used it as a stepping stone and turned all the rivals against one another while he profits and eliminated all of them without moving as much as a single finger.

That was not all, Daimon Ushiromiya even have a weapon manufacturing company under his name, "Ushiromiya Small Bombs". A weird name but it is in no way small, it is one of the largest weapon manufacturing company with one of the world's greatest arsenal of weapons. Santo gulped at the thought of this man who could erase a country from the map of the world if he wants to.

There was no exaggeration when Hachijou said that he "conquers the lands and seas" the lands with his massive weapons trade and the sea with his fleets of trading ships. There was no company that can hold a candle to this man. Therefore, it is no wonder that he is able to build a church underground…he could even build a country underground.

As he follows Hachijou, he couldn't help but wonder in his mind

Why don't he conquer the skies too?

* * *

Despite the previous heated exchange between the two boys, the dining room is now filled with a pleasant atmosphere and chattering is all around the room.

"That truly was a delicious meal" Forte complimented Serral, which causes her to blush as she nervously replied

"U-Um…I'm glad Forte-sama enjoyed it!"

"Heeh! Why is your face all red now, Serral?" Mia couldn't help but tease the two.

"I-I'm not! Mia-san please stop teasing me!" Serral said as she plays with her fingers, something she always does when she is shy.

"Uwa! Serral is shy, let us tease Serral more!" Lily joined in the fun too.

"Ahem, I would appreciate it if you would leave my sister to her duties of collecting the plates for clean up-

"Hey, don't be such a spoilsport Jerral!" Amity said as she serves Jerral one of her friendly slap on the back.

"This is such a joyous occasion, so be at ease, Jerral." Karen said as she finishes slipping her tea.

"I agree. Besides, there is no hurry to collect the plates when not everyone has finished their meals" Bishop added.

"I-I see…well, then I will uh" Jerral tried to find something to occupy himself with.

"Haha! I never knew Serral and Forte are together! Come join us in the teasing Jerral!" Santo exclaim as he finishes his last bite before pushing Jerral towards the table.

Jerral awkwardly tries to decline but it was futile when someone as persistent as Santo wanted him to join in the fun.

Forte fold his shoulders and adjust his glasses and said "I do hope that you're not thinking that embarrassing us is a form of amusement, Santo."

Santo scratch his head and said "You've got yourself to blame, Big Bro. You never told me you and Serral have somethiiiing going on~"

Forte wanted to reply him with something like "No, there's nothing going on between us!" or "Yes…me and Serral are officially together" but somehow he knows that neither of this is true…so he fell onto silence.

Santo stare at him and said "Hey, it's no fun if you don't say something."

"I'm sure that there is nothing to say about their relationship" interrupted Bishop.

Bishop gave a light laugh and continued "You two are just friends. Are you not, Forte?"

Forte scratch his face nervously and replied "Y-Yeah…"

"Hmm…so is our brilliant deductions wrong? Uwa, that's sooo boring." Lily leapt out of her seat with a little jump and tug Serral on her shirt.

Serral was surprised and asked "Yes, is there anything I can help you with, Lily-sama?"

Lily then pull Serral closer to her and Serral had to bend down to listen to her as she whisper towards her ear

"Lily will always be supporting Serral. So go and get Forte and make him your hubby and together you two can give Lily a little Serral or Forte to play with. Hehehehe~"

Serral could feel her face burning up with shyness as she mumbled "N-No…nothing like…uh.."

Unfortunately Ryu heard that as he panicky pulls Lily away from Serral. "L-Lily, you're too young to be saying something like that! Now finish your meal…!"

"Uwaa!" Lily grumbled.

Santo lay back on his chair as he watches the exchange going on in the room.

He had just entered the grand dining room minutes ago and was greeted by a delicious smell. The lunch for today was steak in red wine along with a creamy clam chowder. Surely, these dishes might look simple but they taste anything beyond simple. It was one of the greatest meals that Santo ate for the year.

He couldn't believe it when everyone said that the person who cooked it was Serral alone. How a single girl like her was able to prepare 5 star dishes amaze him but that was not the only thing. When Amity secretly told him that Serral and Forte have been seeing each other secretly, Santo was both filled with envy and happiness. He was envy because Forte gets to have such an angel to himself and happy because they are in love and like they say, love is happiness. That is why he couldn't help but start the teasing session.

The dining room consist of a long dining table and tall dining chairs. Santo couldn't but feel like this is some kind of wealthy people gathering meal or something with all the expensive decors found in the room.

Serral and Jerral had also announced that the founder and the head of the IF, wasn't able to join us for lunch. Daimon Ushiromiya, Santo wasn't surprised at all.

He had heard from Mia that for the past 6 years, he had rarely left his room and had only joined them for meals whenever he feels like it. It is not like as if he is busy …but more like he does not wish to meet or see anyone else besides the servants of the church.

At least that is what Santo assumes although the given reason was the Daimon Ushiromiya was unwell. Since most of the servants are not around today, Serral and Jerral are the only ones that he can call for. 6 years ago…that was the last time he had saw him and he never did like him. Come to think of it, back then Daimon Ushiromiya already looked really pale and tired. However, Santo thinks that if he really is part of the Inanna Family, he should at the very least come down for a meal…but he guess that he is not the one to say since he left them for 6 years.

"So he is not joining again this year?"

"Hmmm….that is to be…expected."

"I-I guess maybe next year…"

And other comments of disappointment could be heard from the IF when it was announced he could not join them for lunch. Santo erased the thought of Daimon away from his mind as he looks around the room.

Santo watched gleefully at Jerral attempts to try to stop the teasing only to be dragged along by Lily and unable to resist the little girl, the cold guy that he once thought to be started trying to say a few funny things. While he looks at Jerral, he believes that he can remember him a little, he was the young servant boy back then along with Serral, except that he didn't really made an impression on him and he didn't know his name.

But now, he wants to get to know him more soon. He smiles as he looks at how Jerral starts chatting with the group consisting of Amity, Forte, Mia, Serral and Lily. Santo's attention turns to Uncle Ryu and Hachishan as they are both catching up and talking about the latest medical advancements while sharing their respective views.

Hachishan was not only accomplished but also a loving doctor, Santo like that a lot about this bubbly man. Uncle Ryu, on the other hand, is one of the workers at Bishop-ossan's Medicine and Science company, although his position isn't high in the company, he has a great passion that never seems to die.

Bishop-ossan and Karen-obasan are busily discussing about the preparations for the festival. Santo gave a little shake as he remembered that the both of them just love to work. Even when there is such a delightful meal in front of them, they could not resist going through the preparations all over again. But he is glad that they are this way, with both of them constantly supporting each other like they always did.

However, Santo couldn't help but notice that there are people missing from the group.

If he were to count all 14, excluding Daimon Ushiromiya, who was unable to join today because he wasn't feeling well, the guy named Kaito and Aunt Gina seems to be missing. He could have sworn that he had seen the both of them eating the meal just now. Perhaps they are having a mother and son personal talk or Aunt Gina is reprimanding Kaito? Santo push the thought of Kaito away from his mind as he enjoys this harmonious session.

* * *

Kaito leaned against the wall of the room that he has been forcibly brought to by his mother. He grumbled a little but didn't resist as he knew that this was important. Gina Kase has brought her son to an empty guest room, one out of the many in the church in order to speak with him.

Gina Kase sat on the bed of the room and scratching her chin spoke  
"That old man is not coming down again today. To think that he would cope himself in his room on the day of the Inanna's festival…This is a hindrance."

Kaito folded his arms and said

"No surprise there, Mom. He isn't really the sociable type, ya know? But if he's still alive, there's still a chance to fight."

"There's no telling whether he is really alive or not. Ugh, those two…if only they let me see him."

"What did they say when you ask for a visit or something?"

"Crap like this "Ushiromiya-san is unwell and does not wish to see anymore" or "it would be better to let him rest". Those Inas, they think just because they are in charge of this church, they get to control everything!"

Gina Kase stand up and pace around in the room in rage as she continued

"I won't let them stop me, not today."

Kaito gave a little laugh and said

"And here I thought you were sweet again when I saw yer talking nicely with them. Guess being angry and bitchy is what suits you."

"You do not call your mother bitchy!" Gina shot back

"Aw, I wouldn't call my sweet mum that knows how to act so well bitchy ever again."

"I wasn't acting and I was being me, Kaito. Right now I am me too."

Kaito had no idea what to make of that, but he kept quiet and listened to what else his mother had to say.

Gina stopped pacing around and looks fiercely at Kaito

"I don't want anything to go wrong and we have to get what we deserve."

Kaito shrug and said

"I'll play my role nicely. So what is our next course of action eh?"

Gina gave a shrewd laugh before saying

"That's my nice son. Everything will go as we had discussed, we will turn this place upside down. Leave it to your mom to take care of everything. This time will be the last time I ever come here again, how pathetic of me to stoop down to the level of those delusional fools."

"Hey hey, calling them fools is going a little too far, ma'am"

"They are fools. They would turn their eyes away from such a fortune but I will not, I will grab it and make it mine."

Kaito smile sheepishly and added to her mother's speech

"We will be letting ourselves down if we don't, right? Besides, it's what we deserve."

Gina Kase let what his son said float in the air. "What we deserve…" was it really what they deserve? But it doesn't matter because she needed the money and at this moment she would do anything to get it.

Kaito open the door and as he left he said seriously, "Put your mask back on, mommy. We're back on the stage."

As Kaito left the room, Gina stare at the closed door behind him as she silently said…

"I was never acting…I just want to be…me."

She clenched her hands as she threw that thought away, that's right…her sign of weakness was coming back and she had to stop it. She looks at the reflection in the mirror of the room and as she did, she silently laughed to it. Gina Kase…what have that girl become?


	5. Prologue End

**/Zed's Corner/**

We meet again, thank you for coming this far into the story. This will be the last chapter of the prologue.

Everything will start from here.

I wouldn't advise anyone to skip the prologue but it still can be skipped.

The reason is simple.

My third person narrative is over with this chapter and I will hand this story over to Santo.

He will tell the story with his eyes until I decide to interfere.

You will understand in the future what I am talking about.

For now, enjoy this final piece of happiness.

**Prologue End.**

"Here."

Santo stare at the hand in front of him. Was this guy for real?

"What's your problem now? Here I am being the nice one."

While Santo was still chatting with people in the room,

Kaito suddenly came up to him and demanded that they should make up and that he was sorry for the rudeness. Santo wasn't sure how to react to that, he did not expect the hooligan to come and make peace.

Santo didn't say anything but kept staring before he decided

"Heh, this must be some kind of stupid joke."

"What?"

Santo gave him a mocking grin and added

"But I guess I will accept your apology. I'm the kind and generous Santo after all."

With that, he gave Kaito's hand a tight slap.

This clearly seems to have provoked him and the people watching weren't sure whether Santo did it on purpose or not. But Kaito knew that he was picking another fight.

Santo was laughing in his mind. He wasn't going to let what Kaito did to him off so easily.

Challenging him and grabbing his collar like that. Yet he didn't want to straight out say it, so he guess he'll just go along and play nice.

His apology isn't going to make Santo hate him any less and he knew it.

Santo shrugged and mockingly said "Now now, you don't want to start another fight do you? Oooh, what's that angry face, now wipe it off. Hohoho!"

Santo was enjoying seeing Kaito face getting madder by the minute.

"You little…are you are even a male? You act like a damn little gir-

"Now that was very offensive of you, Kaito was it? I would advise you to stop insulting the great me!" Santo said it directly to his face and as he pats Kaito's shoulder added

"We have to be gooood friends, riiiight?"

"Grrr…."

"Kaito…calm down, okay?" Amity who was standing beside Santo softly said.

Kaito's angry and vexed expression soon turns into a smile but it was so badly forced that animated wrinkles could be seen on his face.

That expression on his face made Santo and the rest roar in laughter.

"W-Wha?" Kaito was surprised that people started laughing.

"Sorry…it's just…nice smile there." Santo cackled.

"Uwa, do it again Kaito. Do it again!" Lily urged.

"I-I'm sorry Kaito-sama…pfft…"Serral was trying her best to hide her laughter.

"Maybe Kaito have the potential to become a comedian" Bishop couldn't help but notice and was laughing along as he made that comment.

Kaito was clearly taken aback; does he really look that bad when he smiles? Damn…and he was trying to give one of his sweetest yet.

"There, won't it be a lot better if you two were to become friends" that voice came from his back; it belongs to his beloved mother.

"Oh, where have you been, Gina?" Karen asked.

"I was feeling a little tired so I headed to the washroom to wash my face. It's nothing to worry about, Karen-san." Gina replied polity.

Gina came in the room and sat down on a chair as she looks at her son in the eye. Kaito met her eyes before turning back to the conversation.

It's not like he wanted to really be friends with Santo but he won't want to upset the rest.

Therefore, Kaito decided to apologize. Anyway, it would be smoother for him to carry out his plans that way with everyone playing nice with him. Kaito look at the guy called Santo in front of him and question himself…this guy, is he the same as me? Playing nice with me to not upset the rest…but then what is his motive? In order please them? What for?

Kaito made a mental note to find out the motives of this guy called Santo.

After all, everyone has motives and he won't be naïve enough to believe that Santo and him could become friends.

* * *

Bishop check the clock on the wall to double confirm the time before he left his chair and made an announcement to everyone in the room.

"Alright, the time now is 3p.m. I have to head over the Sanctuary to make preparations for the festival at night. Karen will leave the church and go outside to prepare."

The Inanna Festival, Santo almost forgotten about that event because he was having so much fun. Inanna…he still haven't heard the explanation about the paintings and the statue in the Cathedral from Jerral yet.

Bishop continue his speech

"I would like to kindly request the help of all of you to prepare for the festival. It would contribute a lot. We have to make this festival as successful as the last in order to live up to the name of the church and to not shame Daimon-san. Jerral will go with Karen as there are heavier items to lift and Serral will come with me.

Now, who would wish to come with me to the Sanctuary and who would follow Karen outside to help with the preparations? Hohoho, don't worry kids. Preparing for the festivals will be fun. Shall the people who want to follow me to the Sanctuary raise their hands?"

Santo immediately raise his hand, the Sanctuary sounds much more interesting and he can find out more about the church this way. The other people who rose their hands with him is

Ryu, Forte, Gina, and Lily.

7 person in total will be heading over the Sanctuary, including Santo, Bishop and Serral.

It seems like wherever Lily is going, Ryu is going too in order to keep a watchful eye over his mischievous daughter but Santo wonders whether it is because he couldn't trust anyone but himself to look after her.

Santo turn his glance to Forte, the same goes for Big Bro Forte who will always be with Serral. Like a knight eh? Santo thinks that he is reading too much into this though.

So….the ones going to help with the festival outside of the church on the first floor will be…

"Then Jerral, please accompany Karen, Amity, Mia, Hachijou and Kaito to the first floor." Bishop ordered.

Jerral gave a graceful bow and said "Follow me, please."

Shortly after, the ones left are headed towards the Sanctuary.

* * *

The sanctuary, like many other facilities of the church (besides cathedral) is located underground.

While heading to the sanctuary, Santo started asking questions to lighten things up because somehow everything seems to be so quiet all of the sudden.

"Bishop-ossan. Is the sanctuary far from here?"

Bishop said as he recalled thanks to Santo's question

"Ah, I haven't told you about the structure of the church yet. No, the sanctuary is just a few more steps from here. It is very close to the dining room and the entrance B where we came from. "

"So…entrance B. I know that one, Hachishan told me that there's two entrances so where is entrance A?"

"Allow me to answer that for Bishop-sama" Serral spoke and continued after Bishop gave his approving nod

"Entrance A is further away, I would say about up to a mile from here. I may not be exact so please forgive me."

"Wow, talk about being far. The corridors of the church seem to go down endlessly."

Forte gave a soft laugh and help Serral continue

"Not exactly, this church is not as large as you think it is if you spend enough time in it."

As they reached a 3 way intersection, Lily pointed towards the right

"Uwa! Lily will teach Santo." The little girl said excitedly.

"Haha, sure!"

"This way heads to the multimedia room, there is tv, games, and many other fun stuff to do there!"

"Next to the multimedia are the rooms where our guests will be staying for the night and near those rooms is a large storage room and the servant's rooms."

Ryu added in for her daughter.

Santo scratch his head as he asked "You guys all sure know this place well eh. So what's near entrance A and how do I get there?"

"Entrance A cannot be accessed by going through the grand hall which is to the left. You will get to see it later.

Near entrance A, a small library and more rooms along with the exclusive room of the church's founder can be found."

Bishop answered.

Chruch's founder? The only one that registers in his mind is Daimon Ushiromiya.

"Without saying, going straight will lead us to the Sanctuary" Gina joined the conversation.

"The sanctuary….huh…"

"You'll love to see it, Santo. I'm sure you will be amazed."

"Yeah… Aunt Gina. I think I will after seeing everything in the church. Everything is just so…"

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Gina finished for Santo. Santo smiled as he is amazed by how someone like Daimon Ushiromiya can create such a wonderful place.

As they headed straight towards the Sanctuary, Santo couldn't help but wonder how the other rooms in this church looks like and continues to bombard everyone with questions. No one found him annoying though because he helped lift the silence from the group.

Amity and Kaito are walking far behind chatting adults as Hachijou is sharing his doctor adventure tales again that the both of them have no interest in.

Amity thinks that it is sad that Jerral has no choice but to listen to their boring conversation as he is in front.

The two of them have been walking beside each other silently now until…

"Hey. That Santo guy, you like him or something?

Kaito initial the conversation knowing well what her answer is.

"What?"

Kaito stare at Amity as she walks in front of him, showing him her back. He quickens his pace to walk beside her again.

"I can't believe you're still pissed about what I did to him just now. I apologized, you know?"

Amity , with an expression of displease , said

"No. Why would I? Kaito's business is Kaito's business. No matter what you do, it's none of my business."

Kaito grumbled "I'm sorry okay? Man…I already apologized to him and now you too."

"Who was it that said whether I like him or not? You know well that I don't!" Amity puffed as she said in anger.

Kaito couldn't help but laugh at the little mistress as he replied "Hey, I got to be sure right?

The both of you look so close together that…." As he stopped Amity in her tracks and pull her over, putting his face closely to hers.

"…I thought you would forget about me"

"S-Stop…" Amity said as she move his face away and tries to slap him on his chest before Kaito grabs her hand and said

"I already said I'm sorry right? I was serious about it."

"I-I get it already. ..don't stand so close to me."

As she finishes saying this, Kaito pull her closely and silently spoke into her ears…

"Will you forgive me, my dear goddess?"

Amity realized that her face is totally red as she quickly pushes Kaito away.

She has to keep her composure so she stuck up her head and say  
"Hmph! For now you are on prohibition."

"Yes Ma'am!" Kaito loudly said as he straighten up, assuming a soldier position.

* * *

Amity giggled at this but quickly stops so that he wouldn't notice

"For now, let's march on!" as she pulls Kaito's hand.

"Yes Ma'am!" Kaito replied as both of them joined the adults.

Daimon Ushiromiya stood at the centre of everything, and with a little chant, the same hand that was bleeding started to glow.

It soon emits a warm light and the bleeding stopped. The warm light disappeared as soon as the wound was healed.

"Hmm…to think the great Ushiromiya would cast such a weak spell on himself." He laughed at what he called himself.

Daimon had no intention of stopping the bleeding because it didn't matter to him at all.

But he did not want to ruin the beautiful place that he is in at the moment. He flutters his black cape as he approaches the light. The white light is welcoming and scaring him at the same time.

For the first time, someone cloaked with as much darkness like him is allowed into the light.

Amongst all the magic and miracles that he had created, this has to be one of the greatest.

He raises his hand as he approaches the light and smile wider than he ever did as he shouted towards it….

"I have come…I have finally come. Oh…let there be light. Let it begin…"

The light envelopes itself around Daimon and he embraces it as it consumes him.

"I have arrived, Inanna…I have returned…there is no need for the world now…"

The golden diamond ring he was wearing slip off his hands and was falling towards the ground…except that it didn't land.

It fell infinitely into whiteness and for the first time after so many years, the ring shone and turns into a white rabbit.

The last thing Daimon Ushiromiya heard was the cry of the white rabbit as he vanishes into the white world.

* * *

Scratching his head, Santo wander around the huge Sanctuary like a lost child.

"I still can't believe this belongs to the church!"

Serral gave a reassuring smile and replied "It certainly is different from what you had seen so far."

Forte sat down on one of the seats as he answered  
"It looks just like a stadium."

Santo nodded anxiously as he paced around hurriedly.

He still couldn't believe it. When he opened the doors to the Sanctuary, he was greeted by one of the most unbelievable sight he has ever seen. Standing right here, in the underground is a stadium; it is not particularly large and was a miniature arena. An arena that looks like the ones from the Rome picture books he had seen. Although it is way smaller, it was so identical that it was frightening.

Of course there were tier seats that surrounded the arena in a circle.

Right in the centre of the circle was a raised altar with a thick book placed in the middle of it.

Bishop had just told Santo that was the book of prayers. Santo was also told that this place known as the Sanctuary was created as a place where all believers of Inanna can come and meditate in peace while saying the prayers in their minds. Daimon Ushiromiya must be crazy with the Roman Culture and with religion to build a mini coliseum in his church and to name it "Sanctuary".

In short…this is a place of solace and serenity, a place of silence with zero disturbances. As if to confirm that, Santo gave the wall a huge knock…and asked Gina, who was closest to him.

"The wall is soundproof right?"

Gina replied "Aren't you the smart one? Mm-hm, built to prevent any noise going in or out."

Going out? Why the need to prevent noises from going out when it's a Sanctuary?

"Ahem." Bishop gave a loud cough and stood in the middle of the altar as he continued

"Ladies and Gentleman, if you would please move the crates over to the centre…"

"Ah…better get to work, guys." Forte said as he led Lily to the centre.

"Lily will help too!" the little girl exclaimed.

Ryu added "Let us quickly move it and unpack it to see what is inside!"

Everyone in the Sanctuary started to move the crates except for Santo who stood at the end of the large room, staring at a particular inscription on the wall.

With his hands in his pockets and his eyes beaming with curiosity, Santo look at the inscription on the wall…as if figuring what it is.

Was the inscription in Hebrew? Not really…Santo had little experience with Hebrew to know that it is not. The language was one Santo had never seen before and it was intriguing…like some ancient text.

Santo was unable to decipher anything on the walls except for one particular picture…the picture was drawn on the bottom of all the words, as if all the words are leading to the scene in the picture.

The picture depicts a scene of a young girl sleeping under a tree…but that was not why it attracted Santo's attention.

It was the tree that the girl was under. The roots were made up of many snakes covering each other and the trunk is possessed by a screaming human face. The tree's branches are covered with feathers that have been torn away from the girl. But what struck Santo the most was that the thing that took the shape of the fruit of the tree was a heart…a human heart.

"Wha…What is this…"

* * *

"Here you goooo!" Mia exclaimed as she threw the small box of Christmas bells over to Amity.

"Thanks!" Amity caught the box and hastily digs into the bells.

"Hey hey, no need to be so eager." Hachijou cut in as he look down on Amity from where he is standing.

"Careful there, Hachishan!" Gina exclaimed.

"Uh-oh, you are right, I don't want to fall from there." Hachijou anxiously said as he readjusts his posture. Hachijou had volunteered to be the one placing the mistletoes and other Christmas decorations and climbed on top the step ladder but he had to watch his posture because if he were to lean back even by a little, he would topple off.

"Are you sure this is alright?" On the other side of the room, Kaito fold his arms as he was looking at how Amity was creatively decorating the aisle with the little bells.

"I _am_ an artist." Amity puffs her chest out as she replied with confidence.

"An art _student" _Kaito corrected her.

"Pfft, you're just jealous that you don't have my artistic talents."

"Me? Jealous of how you're arranging those bells with all of them facing different directions? No way."

"You don't get it, Kaito! The bells facing all different directions give them a cutesy image!"

"Why must the image be cute?"

"That's why you don't get it." Amity snapped back.

Kaito gave a small grunt as he began to open another cart.

"You have no idea what you are doing, don't you?"

Amity ignored him and placed another bell upside down.

On the other side of the room, Jerral was helping Karen move the Christmas tree slowly over next to the altar.

"Thank you, Jerral"

"There is no need for that, my master"

Karen gave a silent sigh when she heard Jerral call her that again.

"And there is no need for you to call me that. How many times have I said that we are one family now?"

Every time Karen asks this, Jerral had no idea what to say besides keeping silent but for once he replied

"Is it because of the name? Am I a "family" to you, my master…because of the name Ina?"

Jerral Ina. A name that Jerral had voluntarily took up to show his loyalty and pledge his services for eternity towards the Ina family. It was not like Jerral had acknowledged them as family but it was instead similar to a knight taking his pledge, to protect his kingdom. Taking that name meant the same thing to this boy, a duty. Karen couldn't help but feel sad at the thought of it yet she couldn't deny it, even if Jerral came to accept them as family…Karen could never see him as one of his own. So for what did she asked that question again?

That's right…simply because it was the right thing to do. It was the teachings of God. For Karen to acknowledge Jerral as a family would be the right thing to do. Surely everyone would praise her when they hear of it, when they hear of someone as graceful and elegant as her willingly to make a slave like Jerral his own family.

With that in mind, Karen smiled and gave the answer to Jerral's question

"It is because you are important to us. We want to protect you like you protect us. I am already seeing you as my own son."

Karen thought she was being kind and good hearted. So when Jerral didn't replied, she thought that she got him at a good spot.

However, when they finally reached the altar and were about to place the Christmas tree next to it, Jerral look up directly to his master's eyes and firmly said

"I am happy but I am afraid I cannot feel that way."

No, it wasn't what Jerral's words that surprised Karen but it was the eyes that looked directly in hers. The eyes that had seen through everything in Karen and the tone when he said those words that indicated he understood everything she were trying to do. Jerral stepped back and gave a small bow as he continued

"If there is nothing else, I will get back to the decorations"

"Y-yeah..."

As Jerral turn his back towards her, Karen could not help but contort her face with sight disgust.

The only one that saw this face on the kind hearted Karen was Mia and when she did, a smile formed on Mia's face.

"AHHH! HELP!"

A loud thud was heard across the room right after the shout for help.

Everyone look at the direction of the sound and lying there was Hachijou, the poor doctor had lost his grip and fell onto the floor. Jerral quickly hurried over to help the doctor but not before something else startled the rest.

A loud rumble…no…loud doesn't even begin to describe it.

"What is…?" Amity asked the same question that was going through everyone's mind.

…..The next second everything changed.

* * *

"The demotion of Inanna"

The voice behind him shook Santo out of his thoughts. Standing behind him was Serral.

"You are talking about this picture?"

"Yes, Santo-sama." Serral said with a smile.

Santo wasn't sure what to make out of the smile, was it alright for her to smile like that while looking at such a creepy picture? He had to ask.

"This picture is really creepy. Don't you think?"

Serral put her arms behind her back and replied "I don't believe it to be so, Santo-sama. I believe it to be of importance in the story of Inanna."

"I think…it might be a little creepy but still beautiful."

Santo wasn't sure he heard right.

"The story of Inanna and the _Tree of Creations_…

The story tells of our gracious Inanna who saved the seed of this tree from a devastating storm. She would plant and water it with all of her love in hopes that it would grow into a magnificent tree. However, the form of the tree grew to be that of a snake and the spirit of a girl. Unable to accept that, Inanna wished to have the tree cut down. Cutting the tree down was a direct insult to the gods and because Inanna angered the higher gods, they took away Inanna's wings and gave it to the tree. The gods later took away her heart as a reminder to not defy them."

Santo was bewildered, both by the story and Serral who had turned into someone else, like a prophet, in front of him. There were many things going through Santo's mind now. Mainly about how illogical the story is and how Serral and the rest shouldn't hold much thought into it and should really remove it because it is still creepy. But he asked one of the obvious questions, based on what he knew about Inanna.

"I don't get it…wasn't Inanna a god herself?"

Serral stepped forward and lean forward to Santo, looking into his eyes, before walking towards the inscription. Pointing at the sentence beneath the picture and said

"Do you know what this sentence means?"

"What…?"

Santo didn't find it hard to believe that Serral can read it because she had been living in the church forever but what came next from her mouth threw him off.

"The promised day will come where Inanna will overthrow the gods and become the only one in heaven."

"The promised day is…

….12/12/2012."

12…12..? The date today is…?

A loud rumble…no…loud doesn't even begin to describe it.

The ground began to shake…slowly at first but it gradually increased.

Vibrations…large vibrations which kept growing larger.

"Huh…?" Santo shouted out.

The entire ceiling of the Sanctuary started to shake.

"Uwa!" Lily screamed as she falls off the seat.

Everybody in the room lost balance while shouts and screams filled the room. The entire room felt like it was moving and tilting. The ceiling started to slowly crack and small rocks was falling off it.

Slowly the entire room was covered by the loud sound of rumbling and the decorations were falling off and flying everywhere.

Santo tried to grab onto Serral and help her up but she had been dragged by the magnitudes and was now lying unconscious on the centre of the room. Santo tried grabbing onto a nearby pillar but it was useless…it was too far away. The room roared even louder, like it was swallowing everyone.

The last thing Santo remembered was the largest sound of cracking he had ever heard and the room getting buried in rumble before he plummet into darkness…


	6. IF:14N:0?

Darkness…Everything is enveloped by darkness…where am I? This place is so cold…it's been such a long time since I had this sorrowful feeling. I cannot feel anything here. Someone…please…let me out of this place. I don't want to be in such a dark place…I want to break out of here.

That is right…why didn't you bring me with you? If you did, I would not be trapped here.

…Where are you? I don't want to lose you again…

From a corner of this darkness I could see something illuminating…I want to run towards it but my body won't let me move a single inch. My entire body felt like it was constricted by chains and even the slightest movement brings me pain.

There was someone near the light…I couldn't make out who that person is but I know that I have to do something.

"Ah…ah…" I struggled to speak with all my might.

There was nothing…no reply came and my voice was unheard in this darkness. Slowly, the light started to flicker and fade away…along with the person who is there.

I tried to move despite the pain…but only my hand was able to reach out to the diminishing light. With my last ounce of strength, I shouted towards the light…

"Please take me with you…"

* * *

"Santo-sama! …Santo-sama..!"

That voice…I can barely make out that it belongs to Serral.

"Se…ugh…" I tried to say something but the ringing in my head was interfering with me.

"Are you alright? Take a deep breath to relax if you have to. Get a grip, Santo."

The ringing gradually stopped as I had to open my eyes to understand what was going on.

It felt like I was peeling skin off my eyes when I tried to open them as if they were tightly sewed.

Light… My eyes were slowly adjusting to the light. But it was still so bright that it forced me to close my eyes and slowly open them again, this time in another direction which is dimmer.

Ah…that's right. I am currently in the Sanctuary of the Inanna Church. The 14 of us, the Inanna Family have been gathered here for the 13th anniversary of the goddess Inanna. There was supposed to be a festival held in the evening where all the believers of Inanna would come and celebrate. The 13 of us, excluding Daimon, was helping out with the decorations and setting up of the festival when something happened. Something…?

I remember now. It was a terrible earthquake and it took us all by surprise. I look around me but all I can see are debris, fallen decorations and bits of rock all around us. What happened to the rest? But now is not the time to think of this, I quickly turned back to the voice calling me.

"Santo-sama! Are you alright?"

Serral, the sister in the church or always called the servant of the church was looking at me worriedly. Next to him was Big Bro Forte, a long time friend that I always respected like a big brother, with the same amount of worry in his face.

I slowly stood up but I couldn't…my entire body was held back by something. I forcefully tried again and this time a sharp pain to my left arm told me the reason why I'm bound to the ground.

"Argh!" I let out a sharp cry.

"Santo! Don't move just yet! We got to take this slowly…" Forte carefully pressed me down and Serral gently squeezed my right arm.

What the hell? …I turned to look at my left arm. Oh shit.

My entire left arm was buried under a piece of debris and the more I try to move it, the more pain it inflicts on me. I wouldn't even say my arm was able to move a single inch. I move my right arm away from Serral and tried to lift it on my own. Not even a bulge.

"Ugh…this is really bad…" I said weakly.

"Hold on. Can you feel anything in your left arm?" Forte asked.

"I can only feel pain. I guess that means that my arm is still intact."

"We have to get it out fast."

"But Forte-sama…can we do it? It's huge…"

"We have to." Forte assertively said.

I look at Forte as he took out his orange blazer and prepared to lift the debris off my arm.

"Can your right arm move?" he asked before lifting the rumble.

"Y-Yeah, it works fine. I'll lift it with you guys."

"D-Don't force yourself if it is too hard…Santo-san." Serral said as she positions herself to lift the rumble.

"Don't worry, this amount of effort is nothing for the great Santo-sama…Haha."

I tried to reassure her. This two are worrying too much for a no-good guy like me.

Together with a combined effort, we tried as hard as we can to raise the piece of debris off my left arm.

"Ah…ugh!"

"Uwa….!"

"Argh!"

It was a hell lot of pain.

I almost felt like my entire left arm was going to break but I didn't say anything because I don't want to stop halfway and have to do it all over again.

The breakthrough finally came after a long period of pain and the rumble was lifted.

I would faint if I wasn't keeping up this brave front in front of a girl. I am really hopeless, caring about my foolish image at a time like this.

"Whew…" Serral breathe a sigh of relief.

"Try moving your arm a little." Forte said

I tried to bend it slowly but it felt like a rusty metal pipe finally breaking.

However, this amount of pain was just the final lap to the finish line. I squeezed my left hand and slowly lift it.

"It's…alright for now. But I don't think I can lift anything with this arm any time soon…or do anything rough."

"We need to get first aid for Santo-sama…!" Serral anxiously said.

"Wait, Serral. You think you can hang in there for now, Santo? We have to find the others first."

"Sure. My arm is not as painful as before and the great Santo-sama will not get dragged down by such a mere amount of pain!" I cocked my head and said in an attempt to lift their moods up.

They really look to be very worried about me and it made me feel bad. But to be honest…this pain was immense.

"Forte? Forte! I'm so glad you are alright!"

Appearing right behind Big Bro Forte is Bishop-ossan, his full name is Bishop Ina.

He is the priest of this church and basically the one in charge of this entire place. Not to mention that he is also a wealthy and highly successful businessman made everyone admire and respect him, although that same person is covered in dirt and soot at the moment.

"Uncle Bishop! I'm glad you are alright…!" Forte couldn't hide his happiness that his uncle was safe.

"Bishop-sama, are you hurt anywhere?" Serral asked.

I stood up and walked towards Bishop-ossan with the two of them.

"I managed to survive by hiding under the altar…" Bishop said quietly "The first one that I saw when I woke up was Ryu. He had a few cuts on him because of the debris but it is of no big concern. However…we couldn't find Lily."

"Lily-sama..is..?" Serral tried to hide the fear in her tone.

"I don't think so. We just couldn't find her yet, so the both of us split up to search." Bishop-ossan sounded a little unsure of what he had just said.

We stood there in silence for a few seconds until footsteps from behind me made everyone turn and look at who is it.

Two figures slowly emerge from the shadows and I could make out Aunt Gina and Uncle Ryu.

"Lily? Lily...answer me!" Uncle Ryu rushed out of the shadow frantically.

"Calm down, Ryu…we searched everywhere in the room." Aunt Gina tried to calm him down but it's of no use.

Aunt Gina's clothes were covered with dirt and soot as she tries to wipe it off.

"Lily….!"

Bishop-ossan shook his head "It seems like Lily has yet to found…"

Uncle Ryu drops his head and I can make out tears in his eyes…

"She's…here somewhere! I'm sure she's here. We need to search further.

Poor Lily may be buried under debrises…or a rock…anything!"

"Assuming she's still alive…" Gina softly said but her words led to an enraged Uncle Ryu and he rushed in front of her and shouted

"What do you m-mean? O-Of course she's alive! Lily is just missing…she's not…!"

"I'm just saying that we don't have all the time to look for your Lily. I'm worried about my Kaito too." Aunt Gina hastily replied.

"A-Are you saying your Kaito is important b-but my Lily isn't?"

"I'm just saying that I had wasted enough time with you searching for Lily! I'm worried about the others at the Cathedral!"

"Calm down Ryu! And Gina, you too! Bishop-ossan said as he pulls Uncle Ryu away from Aunt Gina.

"Y-Yeah…calm down you two."

I tried to help Bishop-ossan out but it took a while before he gained his composure. After wiping his worried tears away, Uncle Ryu turned to us and said

"I'll stay here…you all go on. I'll stay here and continue looking."

"What are you saying? We'll look for Lily together…" Forte said. But Uncle Ryu waved him off and continued

"G-Gina is right…the others might need help. Y-You all have to check whether they are safe or not.

I-I cannot leave here until Lily is found…so I have to stay here."

It sounded more like a plea than a demand to me.

Bishop-ossan quickly made a decision,

"I see. Aright, Ryu will stay here and continue searching for Lily. The rest of us will find a way to the Cathedral and help the rest. But after we are done, we will come and get him."

The exasperate tone in Bishop's voice showed how worried he was about his family yet he could not bear to abandon the daughter of his friend. He slowly turned and headed over to where the exit of the Sanctuary is.

Ryu gave a silent nod and left us to continue his search, desperately crying out "Lily…! Lily…!"

I stood there in silence and as much as I wanted to deny it also in a little bit of grief. I was always cynical and negative but for once I don't want to believe that the little girl that I just met was dead…no way. Lily is just missing right?

There is no way she is dead right? I mean…all of us survived the earthquake so she should be fine right?

But usually there was causality in a disaster….but I won't accept it and I desperately hope that Lily is fine.

"Santo-sama…?"

The both of us were far behind the rest. Serral's voice made me remember the situation we are in. That is right…Lily is fine! I have to find out how the others over at the Cathedral are doing so I quickly ran forward and pull Serral along…

"We have to go, Serral!"

"Huh? Y-Yes!"

* * *

As we rush towards the exit, I couldn't believe what the Sanctuary had turned into. The once round arena is now crumbled. I can still tell that it is a circle but the countless cracks and debris around the arena makes it looks like some sort of forsaken battlefield. The decorations had also fallen all over the place and a handful of them were still tied to fallen pillars.

The Sanctuary really looks like it was disaster stricken and I felt something died inside my heart. Fortunately, there was nothing blocking the exit so we hurried out.

When I exited Sanctuary, I had to stop for a while to catch my breath. Then, I had to stop again when I look at the state of the underground connector or better known as the church corridors. There were little cracks on the walls of the corridors but it was still in one piece…as in, perfectly fine. No pillars or walls fell over unlike in the Sanctuary. However, this could only be said for the path that takes us from the Sanctuary to the Cathedral. This safe path struck me as weird but I brushed it off, there's no time for questions. I have no idea whether the other corridors are still in place.

But I think we were pretty lucky to have a clear path to the Cathedral.

Finally, all of us reached the stairs towards the Cathedral and we quickly climbed towards the door.

The Cathedral was in a better condition than the Sanctuary. Although most of the walls had cracked on the left and the seats on the top had fallen thunderously onto the first floor and knocked the seats on the bottom which created a huge mess.

Some of the frosted glass windows had also broke but most of it was safe and sunlight was shining through it…radiating a terror-stricken site. Rocks and rumbles mostly piled up at the corners of the cathedral but the entire nave, along with the altar, seems to be in a perfect condition.

The decorations had rolled all around the floor and were smashed by the 3 fallen pillars of the cathedral. While the two pillars had fallen off in a more unnoticeable area, the third pillar was a shocking sight. It had crashed on what was once known as the high altar that was directly located on top of the altar and was the highest place in the Cathedral. The high altar could only be accessed by a secret entrance at the rear end of the Cathedral which was now blocked by debris.

One end of the pillar crashed on the opening of the high altar and the other end fell right behind...the statue of Inanna. It was possible to go up to the high altar by using the pillar as a foothold. But I have no idea why I bother thinking of using it as a foothold when my friends are in trouble. I stopped admiring that view and quickly rush in the Cathedral to search for everyone.

"Hey! Are you guys alright! Anyone?" I shouted out.

"Aunt Karen! Amity!" Forte shouted as he frantically search the area.

"Jerral…." Serral said as she rushes about the room.

The only reply we got was silence and the rustling of the pieces of debris on the roof on the Cathedral that blocked the sunlight. It felt like it could fall onto us any moment so we avoided standing below them.

I called out again but nothing came back. No one…you got to be kidding me. How is this even possible? I couldn't even find a single person or a body anywhere. I shouted out again…I'm starting to panic now. In fact we were _all_ panicking. Bishop-ossan was covered with cold sweat and Forte was shouting desperately…Serral seems close to tears.

The only thing that stopped us from scaring ourselves out was the sound of a door opening.

We immediately turned to the direction of that sound; it came from the entrance of the cathedral.

"Dear! Oh I'm so glad you are alright!"

I heaved a sigh of relief, one of the biggest sigh I've ever did for the entire day. Standing at the door was a brown hair woman in an elegant black dress that doesn't seem to have been affected by the quake. I instantly recognized her as Karen oba-san, the wife of Bishop-ossan and one the most caring woman I had the fortune to meet.

"Everyone is safe! I'm so happy!" Karen's exclamation was soon followed by the piercing voice of a young girl.

That could only be Amity Ina, with her sparkling pink hair and the beret she wears that carries the church logo. She seems to be fine except for her hair in a terrible mess but now is not the time to be paying attention to hairstyles.

"Damn…you all were shouting way too loud in there." The guy named Kaito complained as he stepped into the Cathedral.

Kaito Kase. He took up her mother's last name after the death of his Father, Uncle Roberto who is someone that I really like. Unfortunately, I don't even like his son half as much as I like his father. The first thing he did when he saw me was picking a fight. However, he decided to apologize so I guess he might not be that bad of a guy.

"I am safe. I thank Inanna for that" next to Kaito I can see and hear everything that Jerral was saying as he emerges from the entrance.

Jerral Ina. One of the under-sacristans of the church and also the "servant of god" and his duties is the same as Serral's where they are servants of the entire body of the church. He is a cold guy and seems to lack emotions but from what I can tell, there's a warm side to him.

Not far behind them were Mia and Hachishan.

I was really relieved to see Miami Miyazawa. She is my teacher…uh and I am her student. We are both in the law profession…actually only Mia is in the profession but I'm following her because I want to be like her, an excellent defence attorney. The both of us had worked together many times. Okay, maybe I was only tagging along most of the times but I did help her a lot! She taught me so many things but I still hate her for always treating me like a kid when she is one herself.

Beside her was Hachijou Hara. He is one of the greatest doctors in the country and saved so many lives. He had contributed so much to the medical field that he is often known as the saviour of health. I could only be in awe whenever I think of those hands of him that had decided the life and death of people. Someone like him should always be blessed with good fortune.

I couldn't believe it for a moment…everyone is still alive!

"Damnit you guys! Making us worried like that…I thought you were…you were…" I tried to resist my tears as I said.

"Don't go killing me off like that Santo! I still have a long life that I want to lead!" Mia cut me off.

"Ah, shut up!" as I rubbed my eyes.

Soon the entire Cathedral was filled with questions like "Are you alright?" and "Are you really sure you're not hurt?" and answers that mostly consist of "I'm fine!" and "Just a little bit!".

"Oi Santo!" Amity exclaimed as she gave my left arm a slap.

"Ugh...Y-Yes…?" I tried to act tough and ignore the pain only to result in Serral quickly rubbing my left arm.

"Wow, what's wrong with your arm?" Amity quickly asked.

"Santo-sama's left arm was crushed by a piece of debris…we need to look at it quickly…" Serral anxiously said to everyone.

Everyone was staring at me and seems worried but I cut them off by they spoke their words of concern.

"I-It's nothing much…there's something much more important. Listen, we have to look for Lily!" I politely brush away Serral who is rubbing my left arm and said to the rest…

"Lily…she is missing and Uncle Ryu is worried so we have to-

"Uwa! Uwa! Lily got it. Lily got it!"

Eh? That voice? This can't be right but that cute little voice is Lily's isn't…it…

"But Lily…Lily-chan is out there, Santo." Hachishan pointed out of the door.

How is that possible? Lily was with us the whole time in the Sanctuary and we couldn't find her so how could she be here? In order to confirm that I slowly walk towards the exit of the Sanctuary and as I did, I saw a little girl with a toy pipe in her mouth standing in the middle of the flower field.

* * *

"L-Lily…"

The girl known as Lily turned over and jump towards me. "Uwa, Santo…are you alright? Not hurt from quakes?"

"Y-Yeah…but how come…how did you…"

I have a lot of questions I want to ask. Like how was it possible for her to reach here _before _us and how come she did not notify anyone of us beforehand? But for now I just pat the little girl on her head and softly laugh…I was glad that he was safe. I was really worried.

"Uwa…what is wrong, Santo?"

"No…nothing. Heheh…how stupid I was. I thought you… Damn, never mind that!"

Lily tilted her head and stare at me but she soon turn her attention back to the flowers when she didn't understand why I was so happy.

"I don't comprehend this too, Santo. But I believe that Lily left the Sanctuary ahead of us…maybe she thought that we had already left without her." Forte said as if reading my mind.

"It would be weird if someone else did that but if it is little Lily, I believe it to be possible. She wouldn't understand what was going on and wanted to quickly get out of a disaster stricken area" Bishop-ossan agreed.

I guess that was the only explanation so I nodded and I really didn't want to ask her any further because it will remind her of the earthquakes. I wonder if it is traumatic for a kid her age. But she seems perfectly fine. Everyone soon gathered at the flower field outside of the Catheral.

The first thought that came to was to find out whether everyone in the city was alright.

Except that we couldn't do that. Right after finding Lily, the second thing I noticed was that this exit…leads to nowhere. The flower fields, called the garden of the church, were the only place the exit of the Cathedral leads us to. We could not proceed any further. All sides of the garden was blocked off…by large pieces of debris.

It was so surreal…so unnatural. It almost felt like the debris intentionally formed a circle and fell on all sides of the garden, enclosing everyone. It was also impossible to climb over it and the pieces were so big and thick that shifting or even lifting it would be impossible.

"Unbelievable…what in the world is this? The debris is preventing us from leaving this place!" Aunt Gina cried out, speaking out the thoughts of everyone.

"To be exact it is blocking us. The debris is rather thick and is covered by many layers of rumbles and rocks." Hachishan added as he knocks on one of the debris.

"Huh? Is it even possible for there to not be a single angle where we can get out?" Kaito tried hitting the debris. "Owowow…"

"Stupid! There's no way your fist can break it. But this is really unnatural" Amity snorted "Can earthquakes really do this?"

"Wait…there is one place…"Karen-obasan's suddenly said as she move towards the edge of the flower field.

There was no debris blocking that path and it went on and on….

The path lead to an edge of the garden, where a small tree is but on what appears to be a path out was a cliff that was blocked by fences. I look down the cliff, hoping for a possible landing where the path can continues but the cliff could only land down on one thing if we tried to jump down: death. In short…this path also led to a dead end. However, the cliff gave us a large eye scope of the city.

No way…there's no way out of this place? Are we trapped…?

Just when I tried to think of something, Karen-obasan's scream shocked me.

"W-What is it?" Forte was startled too as he asked.

Karen-obasan's entire body was shaking as she slowly point towards the city.

At first, there was nothing surprising about the city. It was what I expected from an earthquake: damaged houses, wrecked stalls, fallen lampposts, crashed vehicles and injured people…

Injured people? Injured…people? People? Huh…?

What happened to the jolly city that I was in? What happened to the little children playing around? How about the adults preparing for Christmas? What about the street vendors with their piping hot food?

Everything about the city was supposed to be normal but it was not, it was missing the most important factor that made the city even possible. A part of me laughs at how ridiculous the thought in my mind was but it wasn't. It was perfectly sane to say this at the moment.

"There is…no one in the city…"

* * *

The picture of the city was a total emptiness. There were no sounds and no movement. Not even a breeze. It felt like we were staring into frozen scenery. There was no sign of life anywhere. It was completely…empty.

Kaito, being the quick witted one, shouted out towards the city.

"Hey! OI! ANYONE THERE?"

It was extremely loud and I wasn't about to complain about it because it was necessary to be loud, in order to reach the city.

….We waited for a minute, two minutes, three…four…and there was nothing. Kaito kept shouting and we shouted too but there was nothing.

Not a single reply and not even a single sound, except for the howling of cold wind that had arrived, could be heard from the scene that we are viewing.

"Is…everyone…dead?" Amity weakly said as she fell on her knees.

"How is that possible? I mean, everyone in the church survived so how could so many people die all at once?" Aunt Gina snapped at Amity.

"Please calm down…Gina-sama." Jerral said as he put his hands out indicating her to stop.

"That can't be. How could so many people disappear all at once…?" Forte mumbled.

"It's not certain just because we hear no reply. The people might be unconsciousness or like with Lily, they might be elsewhere." Bishop-ossan desperately tried to bring hope to us.

It was cold…it was terribly cold. There was no snow falling yet it was so cold…was it because of the sight? Was it because of the fear it struck us? No matter what Bishop-ossan said, it was hard to believe.

Let's say that it was the earthquake that killed everyone. But if it really did, we would have seen bodies even from afar because of how populated the city was today. How about everyone escaping to someone else to hide from the earthquake? That was hard to imagine but just an hour ago everyone was at peace and joyfully looking forward to the festival. Nobody was worried or even said anything about a place to hide.

What if they all woke up and moved somewhere else? That's even more ridiculous because considering how wrecked the city was and how many people there were, there should had been injuries and there was no way so many people can move to somewhere else in such a short time. Then where are they…?

*beep**beep*

The sound cut me off from the next possibility that I was thinking up and I turned around and saw Mia fumbling with her cell phone.

That's right..! Damnit, why didn't I think of it...

"I see, as expected from Mia!" I cried in excitement. "We can try to contact the police or the ambulance! Or anyone from the city…we'll know what is happening!"

Everyone turned to Mia and as if some form of answer has been found, started to swipe out their cell phones and was about to start dialing when Mia stopped them all.

"…This is the 6th time" she said in a serious tone.

"6th time of what…?" Hachishan asked.

"I've tried calling the police 5 times, the hospital 5 times and a friend who is living in the city 6 times…" Mia explained "But none of those calls got through…there is zero signals. No signal for any forms of calls, even the emergency ones."

"No…signal…?" I asked and Mia confirmed as she nods her head.

"I-I don't believe this…!" Aunt Gina said as she tried dialing…to no valid.

Everyone else tried their cells and it was completely useless. There was no way of contacting anyone because there was no signal. No one was about to answer our calls and there was no way to call for help.

But it's not that unbelievable. I've heard cases where cell phones were unable to communicate with anyone during an earthquake and after one. For instance, the Virginia Earthquake where the cell phones are jammed because of too many calls is being made or when an earthquake crashed the phone lines...there are a lot of reasons why there is no connection in a disaster stricken area but they are usually recovered in a few hours time. I could only hope for the same in this situation.

Out of rage, Kaito threw his cellphone onto the floor and smashed it.

"What the heck! What is this supposed to mean? What can we do now?" he shouted in frustration.

What can we do now…?

That was when I really understood the situation.

14 of us…and there is highly likely that there is no one in the city. Therefore it means we cannot count on the people of the city to help us in anyway. Our cell phones could not reach anyone…which means that communication to the outside is impossible and not even text messages work. To add to that, we are trapped by the debris and rocks and could only go as far as the cliff does.

We are completely cut off from the outside world and the only place we can move in is the Inanna Church.

Only place we can move in…? No…we are trapped here in the Church because of the earthquakes.

I let this thought hang in the air for a while before coming back to everyone.

"Shit…this is bad but it's not the worst right?" I said, breaking the silence. Everyone is looking so down and some are even in frustration. I had to do something. "Help will come! There had been instances like this in the past where earthquakes happened and people are trapped but they are soon saved by a helicopter or a truck or something. We just have to wait for the government to help us!" I said that with the most positive tone I could muster.

Everyone looked at me…I couldn't tell what they were thinking by the looks on their face…no, I didn't want to stare at their faces because I was afraid they could see through my fear too.

"Santo is correct." Forte spoke up too.

Wow, I'm seriously grateful for Big Bro Forte who came and backed me up.

"I agree that the government will soon search for the survivors of the earthquake and they will save us and we will be able to return home" Forte braces his chest out as he continued "So we have to stay calm and wait for rescue."

There was a few seconds of silence in the air until Bishop-ossan spoke too.

"True! We have to keep our spirits up as we wait for rescue! So everyone, wipe that depressed look off your face."

"Mm-hm. That is a very likely outcome. Let us believe in that. Besides, frowning too much will lead to an ugly face, right Amity-chan?" Mia softly said as she pat on Amity's back.

Amity smiled and slowly replied "Yeah…I agree…"

Kaito fold his arms and look up the sky as he said "I wonder how long that will take em. Those government peeps betta be quick or I'll kick their sorry asses!"

Soon everyone started believing that the government will soon come and help us. Even Aunt Gina slowly believed despite being the most negative one at the start.

Besides, it was almost impossible that the government would abandon us. This is possibly one of the most serious earthquakes ever and they have to save their own people. Imagine the wide media coverage if they were to abandon their people. Everyone soon convinced themselves that help was sure to come and the people missing from the city were most likely them moving to an underground shelter or somewhere safer.

Yet somewhere deep inside me I was not utterly convinced and I'm sure the rest are…but the only thing we can do now is hope that the government finds us as quickly as possible.

* * *

Remembering that I still had to tell Lily how worried Ryu is about her, I quickly walk back to where she was…in the centre of the flower fields.

I shove everything else in my mind aside when I headed back to her, with everyone else following me. I was about to ask Lily why she was staring at the flowers with such indiscernible interest in her eyes when she said

"Santo! Lily solved a big mystery!"

Deciding to humour her before bringing her to go back and find Ryu, I replied

"Okay…make this fast. What is it?"

"Uwa! These flowers, they are real!

"_Right_ , Of course they are real. Come on, let us go to where Uncl-

Wait a second.

"Huh?"

"Don't you get it already? They weren't supposed to be real! How could artificial flowers be real?"

I had no idea what to say to her except that she must be kidding but I didn't want to spoil her mood so I played along and bent down while taking a long hard look at the flowers.

No…I didn't need to take a look.

I just needed to take a whiff…to smell…and I realized what had been bothering me the moment since I stepped out of the Cathedral. The fragrant smell of the flower fields…that was impossible.

"How? The flower…why is there smell?"

Here I thought my mind had calmed down already but something like this shook it again.

I frantically wave my hand through the flower fields and pluck one petal out to feel it. I look all over me and all around the flowers…they weren't reflecting lights like artificial flowers did anymore. These flowers…this white rose…unlike the fake white roses…this white roses are real and every senses in my body was telling me so.

This was impossible. There was no possible explanation for this. This was artificial flowers made by Serral…she made the entire fields of artificial flowers. I could smell nothing when I first walked into the garden but now…it was filled with an embracing fragrance.

What happened to the artificial flowers? Don't tell me they turn real and became real flowers? I must be going insane if I thought of that. The only way that is possible, no, it's not possible!

"Lily! Tell me, what happened to these flowers?"

The only way to the answer to my question was through her so in my panicked state, I shook Lily' s small and frail body roughly.

"Uwa…you are hurting me, Santo."

"Please, calm down!" Jerral said as he quickly came over and pull me away from her.

"Answer me…Lily!"

What happened next was implemented into my memory forever…

Lily slowly took of her hat and took a cutesy bow before she broke into a small spin. It was a weird gesture…her bow wasn't cute at all and that spin was in no way elegant. When she's done, she put back on her hat and pull out her toy pipe and giggle…the giggle soon grew louder and louder…into something sinister.

"Hehehehehehehehe…Kehehehehe! I'll tell you, ignorant Santo! The answer to this question! Inanna came and made it real. Yes! Inanna brought life to the flowers. She can give life to anything! So she made the flowers alive again…she made it wonderful again!"

The girl in front of me was not the Lily I knew…it was as if she was completely possessed by another being. She took a complete spun before pointing her index finger at me and her lips curved into a twisted shape

"Inanna is the solution! She is the answer to everything! She will be the answer to everything! Kehehehe!"

"What..." was all I could make out.

That moment, time had stopped with everyone staring at Lily. No one was about to say anything. Everyone was surprised…everyone was taken aback by what the little girl had done. It had struck a sinister feeling into them. Serral walked over to the flower and took one to sniff it…her eyes widen and her expression surprised.

Then, as sudden as she transformed into someone else, Lily gave a small bow and said with that innocent voice of hers…

"Uwa…How do you like my deductive reasoning, Santo?"


End file.
